


The Progenitor King 2.0

by i_didnt_lose_sammys_shoe



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angels are Dicks (Supernatural), Castiel and Dean Winchester Have a Profound Bond, Castiel and Dean Winchester Need to Use Their Words, Castiel in Denial (Supernatural), Dean Winchester Has Flashbacks of Hell, Dean Winchester in Denial About Sexuality, Demon Blood, Drug Addiction, F/F, Future Fic, Gen, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Michael Out of Lucifer's Cage (Supernatural), Minor Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alternating, POV Dean Winchester, POV Sam Winchester, POV Sam Winchester on Castiel/Dean Winchester, Post-Season/Series 14, Protective Sam Winchester, Psychological Trauma, Recreational Drug Use, Resurrected Ruby, Season/Series 05, Self-Harm, Suicidal Thoughts, Time Travel Fix-It, Time Travelling Castiel (Supernatural), Time Travelling Dean Winchester, Time Travelling Sam Winchester, To Be Edited, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Winchester Family Angst (Supernatural), Winchester Family Drama (Supernatural)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:06:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 53,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24888853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_didnt_lose_sammys_shoe/pseuds/i_didnt_lose_sammys_shoe
Summary: The Apocalypse has begun and while dealing with their personal issues amid each refusing to a vessel to an archangel, Sam and Dean Winchester are joined by a trio of hunters who seem more knowledgeable than they let on. The three siblings are reluctant to talk about their family, including two other siblings that stayed behind wherever back ‘home’ is at.What’s those three hunters’ end game here?What are their intentions?Why do they know what they do?Why are one of the three hunters so uncomfortable around demon blood?-CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND WILL BE UPDATED--THE PROLOGUE UP TO CHAPTER 2 HAS BEEN FIXED-Update: Special thanks to @mystic-voyager on Tumblr for beta reading and for giving awesome feedback.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Ruby (Supernatural)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 7





	1. Prologue - History Will Soon Change

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Of All The Burdens I Must Bear...](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24402940) by [Clowns_or_Midgets](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clowns_or_Midgets/pseuds/Clowns_or_Midgets), [Jadeys_World](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jadeys_World/pseuds/Jadeys_World). 
  * Inspired by [Delusions](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26941165) by [JasonMorganfan87](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JasonMorganfan87/pseuds/JasonMorganfan87). 
  * Inspired by [The Greatest Burden Is Love](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27555985) by [Clowns_or_Midgets](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clowns_or_Midgets/pseuds/Clowns_or_Midgets), [Jadeys_World](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jadeys_World/pseuds/Jadeys_World). 



> Original authors note: 
> 
> I’m very dissatisfied with the results of the first Progenitor King and my plan to introduce Sam and Dean into the story would’ve been way too late. I’m rewriting this to introduce them way earlier, as in the first chapter. I’ll do better not to have so many grammatical errors and this story will focus more on the boys than their successors, who are just lending a helping hand to guide them along.
> 
> This will be written in third person, focusing on the boys’ figuring out who these mysterious hunters are. Hope the quality of this one surpasses the lackluster quality of the original. 
> 
> My characters’ preexisting backgrounds, excluding the new one I created not too long ago, remain unchanged. I added some new things since it takes place more than a few years later than the previous story was set in. This is set in season 5 and I don’t own Supernatural, just my three characters. It starts at the beginning of season 5.  
> \---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> As for the original statement:
> 
> I have done a lot of research for this story and have been hesitant to post it, for I want to make sure I wrote my German main characters accurately. If I made any mistakes with either portrayal, please let me know and I will fix it. Any constructive criticism is welcome and please let me know what you guys think. I sincerely hope that the portrayals are accurate and are not offensive in any shape or form. If there are any grammar errors, please let me know and I can fix them.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A trio of time-travelers contemplate their plan to go into the past and help their ancestors, Sam and Dean Winchester.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original authors note: 
> 
> I’m very dissatisfied with the results of the first Progenitor King and my plan to introduce Sam and Dean into the story would’ve been way too late. I’m rewriting this to introduce them way earlier, as in the first chapter. I’ll do better not to have so many grammatical errors and this story will focus more on the boys than their successors, who are just lending a helping hand to guide them along.
> 
> This will be written in third person, focusing on the boys’ figuring out who these mysterious hunters are. Hope the quality of this one surpasses the lackluster quality of the original.
> 
> My characters’ preexisting backgrounds, excluding the new one I created not too long ago, remain unchanged. I added some new things since it takes place more than a few years later than the previous story was set in. This is set in season 5 and I don’t own Supernatural, just my three characters. It starts at the beginning of season 5.  
> \---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> Updated authors note (11\25\20): 
> 
> This fic is still a work in progress, so before moving on, I'm going to fix the earlier chapters up a bit. I had no idea what I was wanting to do with this story when I first began it, which the inconsistencies may show. I'm still currently working on chapter ten and know what I plan on doing for further chapters. I had to take quite a bit of time off this story to figure out how I want this fic to go, and now, I DO know what I'll be doing for this.
> 
> I apologize for the inconsistent updates and inconsistencies within the story that will be fixed.
> 
> \---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> As for the original statement:
> 
> I have done a lot of research for this story and have been hesitant to post it, for I want to make sure I wrote my German main characters accurately. If I made any mistakes with either portrayal, please let me know and I will fix it. Any constructive criticism is welcome and please let me know what you guys think. I sincerely hope that the portrayals are accurate and are not offensive in any shape or form. If there are any grammar errors, please let me know and I can fix them.

_“I have done terrible things by being alive. I have built a wonder of terror with my life.” – Phillip B. Williams_

Year: 2056

Location: Berlin, Germany

Timeline for this chapter: October 18

Prologue

History Will Soon Change

A group of three people sat inside a small, two floor house in a pleasant German suburb in Berlin. They sat in the dining room of the home at a moderately long black table with a worn out, black railed chandelier with a dimmed light on it. One could hear a middle-aged woman in the kitchen listening to a German-spoken podcast on her phone whilst cooking a meal on the stove, not too far from the dining room. Also, one could also hear an old HD TV on in the living room, where a middle-aged man was watching football while unwinding in a comfortable recliner.

At the dining room table, there was tension and frustration between all three people. There were three small duffel-bags by each person’s feet at the table, where all three had a pair of house slippers on over their socks. “Couldn’t we have booked a later flight?” A young man said in English with distress in his German accent. He was by the far the tallest out of all three at the table with ebony black hair, blue eyes, and pale skin dressed in a black Henley shirt and black skinny jeans. “We would’ve been fine if we waited fifteen minutes!”

He appeared to be around twenty-three or twenty-four, or perhaps closer to twenty-two, depending on who one asked.

The small group of people at the table were quiet when he broke the silence.

“We had to, Sam.” The other young man at the table said in English with a solemn pitch in his soft German accent. He was by the far the second tallest out of all four at the table with soft black hair, brown eyes, and fair skin dressed in a buttoned-up blue and white flannel shirt and loose blue jeans. “Emma and Danny said they’ll call Oma and Opa when they get here. Castiel should be here soon.” He looked about two or three years older, or maybe four years older, than the taller man at the table.

The young woman at the table appeared more worried than anything and she sighed. She had long, curly dark brown hair, hazel eyes, and tanned skin dressed in a simple light blue V-neck t-shirt and light brown skinny jeans with a deep frown on her face. She looked around the age as Sam was, or a little older than him, and the shortest out of all three of them.

“I don’t care what they said! I’m not leaving without them, Dean.” Sam, as it seemed his name was. “We can’t fix the past with just the three of us. I’m already concerned enough with Rebekah coming along.”

She looked up at her name being mentioned.

“I’ll be fine, Sam, I know how to hunt.” Rebekah said worriedly in her Californian accent, twirling her curly brown locks out of nervousness. “We still have to decide on our aliases and what my cover is. I assume you’ll tell them the truth about being brothers.”

Dean seemed to be deep thought for a moment. “Of course. How about you’re our sister?” He suggested. “We can say you’re our step-sister or adopted sister. It makes sense you’d keep the same last name as us.”

Rebekah sighed. “Yeah.” She said with a nod. “What about your names?”

Sam looked dejected with his rather innocent guilt-inducing blue eyes. “Do I have to use my middle name? I hate being called Henry!” He complained childishly with a groan. “I want something to at least sound like my first name.” Calmly with no surprise on his face, Dean looked at him. “We could just call you Samuel instead.” He said in a slightly teasing, only half-serious tone. “I’m using my middle name, or maybe just _D_ and say I’m not called by my first name anymore.”

Rebekah looked interested. “What is your middle name, Dean?” She asked.

“Alexander.” He answered, then looking toward Sam. “I’ll more than likely just go with D to make it easier to remember. You need to be called _something_ different, Sammy, and I have another idea you’ll hate.”

The taller brother rolled his eyes with a scoff.

“What, you want to let them assume you’re older than me?” He snapped.

Dean gave him a look to not push on the issue further. “Do you want to correct everybody you meet when you look a few years younger than me?” He said, not in the mood for his brother’s snark tonight. “We need a plan soon, so can’t you just decide instead of complaining about our options?”

Sam shook his head. “Fine, you win.” He muttered, sounding more like a pout.

Rebekah groaned. “Just stop bitching already.” She muttered.

“Not you, too, Rebekah! Jesus fucking Christ, my siblings are rubbing off on you more than I thought.” He complained irritability as he snorted. “Anyways, what last name are we gonna use? I prefer our real one, so whatever we come up with must start with ‘w.’ It’ll be easier to remember that way.”

“I’m sure that’ll go smoothly, Sam. We’ll go in with a suspiciously identical last name.” Dean snarked back at his brother with frustrated sarcasm. “As far as anybody in the past knows, there’s no other Sam and Dean Winchester. Can you stop being so goddamn bitchy about everything?!” Rebekah was about to intervene when the woman came in from the kitchen.

“Stop it, boys!” She said firmly in her German accent. “You need to be ready when the angel to get here.”

The two brothers sighed in unison.

“Sorry, Oma.” They happened say at the same time.

Rebekah was in deep thought about altering the past when the grandmother spoke up toward her. “Rebekah, do you need to lay down?” She asked.

“No, I’m fine. Thank you, though.” The younger woman answered politely. It seemed that the two brothers calmed down enough to have a civil conversation and their grandmother sent the three Winchesters concerned looks. “Don’t overthink the aliases, you need to pay attention to what’s important.” Sam looked over at his grandmother. “Thanks, Oma.” He said quietly, but politely.

She nodded as she headed back toward the living room and he couldn’t think of how to approach all of this without doubt or fear of changing the past. “I’ll use my middle name _only_ if we’re undercover. There’s no way in hell I’m letting anybody call me Samuel, unless my namesake or Dean’s would rather call me that instead.” He relented. “Now that he’s using the letter _D_ and we’re still calling Rebekah by her name; we need a last name. I’m not lying to our namesakes’ more than I have to.”

Rebekah thought for a moment. “Don’t I need a back-story first? How would we work in how your dad had the time to have another kid. or are we using one of the usual covers?” She asked carefully. “He doesn’t seem like the type of person to do one-night-stands.”

Sam shook his head. “No, he’s not. How about he adopted you after, say, your parents died in an accident and you had no other relatives able to take you in after we moved to the States? It’s a more interesting cover than usual.” He suggested after a moment of thinking. “The other ones are getting boring.”

She rolled her eyes. “God forbid you get bored.” She quipped dryly.

“How do we explain how Rebekah doesn’t seem like she had enough training?” Dean asked, then looking over at her. “No offense. You’ve become good in the past year.”

Not offended at all, Rebekah smiled.

“I have a solution I think you’ll like.” Sam said. “Similar to how we met in college as strangers initially, instead when I left for eight years, you came with me and enrolled as well.” The younger of the two brothers shook his head. “Sammy, you were out for eight years and you didn’t require as much refresher training.” He said. “What if we just say that Rebekah graduated from secondary school early and got accepted into a university, so she had more time away from hunting than you?”

Her and Sam shrugged their shoulders and appeared to agree. 

“As for our fake last name, how about _Wolff_? If I recall correctly, it means something like wolves and battle.” The older of the two brothers suggested with a smug smile. “I’m the most feared in this family after all.”

Dean nodded. “That’s fine with me.” He said.

Rebekah seemed to think for a moment further. “I like it.”

“Also, for our fake IDs there, I’ll put my first name as my middle, and Dean,” he said as his smug look faded, “I assume you’re putting your first name as your middle?”

He looked undecided. “Yeah, for further evidence if we have to prove our identities, if they’ll even believe it.” He said. “You can’t order me around like you normally do since they’ll think you’re younger.” Sam scoffed as he rolled his eyes. “Age has nothing to do with authority.” He said distastefully. “You know I’m the one who raised you, right? You can’t revoke my right to keep you safe.”

Dean didn’t argue, nor did he disagree. There were some things about his older brother that he couldn’t change, and this was one of those things. “Okay, but you can’t constantly supervise Rebekah on cases either.” He said. “We’ll stand out too much and you know there’s more discreet ways to keep her safe.”

“Guys! Please stop talking about me like I’m five. I’m the same age as you, Sam,” Rebekah said with her face red, obviously embarrassed by Sam and Dean’s overly protective ways, “and I’m not some helpless damsel in distress. I can protect myself when I have to.”

The angel of the Lord, Castiel appeared in front of them at the table.

“I trust you finished your planning. We need to leave now.” He said urgently in his gravelly voice, alerting the three futuristic Winchesters of his presence. “Are you ready?”

The three of them coincidentally nodded at the same time.

“I can only take two of you on one trip and one on another.” He said.

Sam glanced over at Rebekah, then back at Castiel. “Are you _sure_ it’s safe for two trips there?” He questioned with worry laced in his normally stoic voice. “Is there any time to wait?”

“Yeah, it’s safe. I wouldn’t put any of you in danger and the past will be in peril if we wait any longer.” The seraph answered. “Thank you for doing this. I believe you three can alter history for the better.” Sam and Dean’s grandmother came back into the dining room. “Is that the angel, boys?” She asked them, amazed, and unsurprisingly, the legend of Castiel _was_ true.

“Yeah,” the older of the two brothers answered. “Oma, would you and Opa be able to let Emma and Danny know what’s going on?”

She nodded. “Yes, I will. You three just stay safe and come back alive, or your opa will raise hell.” She answered.

Dean looked over at Castiel. “Let us get our shoes on by the door and grab our duffel bags, and we’re ready to go.” He answered as stoically as usual, but with a clear gratitude for the angel in his tone.

Time to go back to the past.

_“This boy, half-destroyed, screaming drive into that tree, drive off the embankment, Henry, make something happen,” - Richard Siken_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note (11\25\20):
> 
> If there's still any inconsistencies, grammar errors, etc, that need fixed, please let me know and I'll fix it.
> 
> What do you guys think of the updated chapter?
> 
> Authors note (2\23\21): 
> 
> Still alive here and fixing mistakes that I should have fixed earlier, and after thinking about it, I felt like it's a good idea to put short quotes reflecting on the tone of the chapters before and after the chapter. With so many things out of my control in life, at least one thing I have control of is my writing. 
> 
> Thank you, Tumblr, for introducing me to more poetry quotes and Richard Siken, btw.


	2. Chapter 1 - Going Off Script (Pt. 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The time-travelers have arrived in River Pass, Colorado. 
> 
> Sam Winchester's namesake and Rebekah go off on their own to check for more survivors, and both end up somewhat injured by the time they meet Sam and Dean. The two time-travelers make a few mistakes, though, that don't go unnoticed while the latter Winchester brother's namesake is out looking for them.
> 
> This takes place in 5x2.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original authors note: 
> 
> This chapter originally was meant to begin on episode one and found that a better introduction for my three characters would be episode two. I don’t have a lot of experience with writing Supernatural fanfics and I tend to not have a lot of luck with writing canon characters, but I’ll do my best. Now, as stated previously, the third person POV will mainly focus on Sam and Dean now. 
> 
> Their namesakes will soon be referred to by their aliases when in the presence of Sam and Dean and referred to by their real names in separate sections when alone, which the POV will alternate a bit. It’ll be indicated by the line break, to prevent any confusion. Instead of narrating all events of the episode with unaltered dialogue, except slightly altered with mentions of my characters, so the POVs will cover both sides.  
> \---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> Updated authors note (11\25\20)
> 
> Now that I've updated the prologue, this chapter should be properly fixed up as well. As you guys can tell, I mixed up 5x2 and 5x10. I fixed it up in the following chapter(s) by making it a miscalculation on the Castiel and the time-travelers, part. 
> 
> \-----------  
> As for the original statement:
> 
> I have done a lot of research for this story and have been hesitant to post it, for I want to make sure I wrote my German main characters accurately. If I made any mistakes with either portrayal, please let me know and I will fix it. Any constructive criticism is welcome and please let me know what you guys think. I sincerely hope that the portrayals are accurate and are not offensive in any shape or form. If there are any grammar errors, please let me know and I can fix them.

_“Wine isn’t strong enough. It’s blood I want.” – Henry Miller_

Year: 2009

Location: River Pass, Colorado

Timeline for this chapter: ?

Chapter One

Going Off Script (Pt. 1)

**(Time-travelers’ POV)**

Castiel had took Sam and Rebekah back in the past first, then came back for Dean. It took quite a bit of grace to take four trips, or five including the initial trip there, so the seraph had to take a break once all three of the futuristic Winchesters’ were at the intended spot. The stories that were told to Sam, Dean, and their two other siblings as children were fantastical, including the event in history they were in now. These stories of their namesakes were tragic, full of heartache, and probably had more death than any of Shakespeare’s plays.

When Rebekah joined the family business a year prior to this, her boyfriend-turned-husband had told her of all the stories he knew of. This event, regarding the hunters Ellen Harvelle and her daughter, Jo, would die if they didn’t arrive in time, assuming that they had their timelines right. Now, the three futuristic hunters and angel were in the designated town of the demon attack. Castiel timed it out for them to arrive a few minutes _before_ the attack took place, just past the bridge into River Pass that the demons would close off soon.

“Isn’t it possible your past self will realize you’re here?”

He turned to the namesake of Sam Winchester, who inherited his height of six feet and four inches. However, that shrewd and calculating look on the futuristic hunter’s face was strangely fitting for the somewhat distrustful and underhanded hunter, who was the opposite of the person he was named after.

“That’s why I can’t stay here for long.” The seraph explained with urgency in his gravelly voice. “You don’t have a lot of time before the attack begins, Sam. Make your preparations.”

It felt odd for Castiel to be speaking with his friends’, one of whom he had a profound bond with, who had kids named after them being total opposites. The one named after his love, no, he meant _friend_ , was polite and calm, not to mention a somewhat of a believer who prayed every night since childhood.

Sam nodded, glancing over at his brother and wife, as he ran his hand through his short, black hair. “I already made them before leaving,” he said indignantly with a snort, “I take it you don’t know me that well to even feel the need to ask.”

His brother, who was already on edge, shot the older hunter a glare.

“Show him Castiel some fucking respect, Sammy. He didn’t have to turn to us for help, and I’m sure he didn’t sign up to deal with your sacrilegious attitude!” Dean snapped at him, surprising the angel, given that the older-looking brother of the two had a very calm nature. “I don’t suppose a narcissist like you would care if he decided to not let us help at all now, right?”

The younger of the two brothers was about two inches shorter and he could do serious damage to Sam, if he weren’t as self-controlled and restrained. Rebekah hurried between her husband and brother-in-law.

“Guys, knock it off, already!” She said, feeling small at five feet and six inches swished between the men. “You guys don’t normally argue this much, so why start now?”

Castiel approached them with a more urgent look on his face.

“Rebekah is right, there’s no time for fighting.” He said, seeing some of his friend and love, no, it was a profound bond, _not_ his love in these two boys only seeing the roles reversed. “If you’re confident about your preparations as you seem to be, act on them now. Ellen and Jo Harvelle will die if you’re not careful.”

There was a dire silence among them, and there was no time to waste.

“Okay, here’s the plan. We’re the past the bridge and demons are gonna cut that access off, and if I recall correctly, the heroes Sam and Dean hike around to enter.” Sam explained impartially, significantly calmer, and glanced over at the seraph. “If things have gone as the stories say so far, Bobby Singer’s paralyzed in the hospital and the past Castiel’s looking for God right now. Is that accurate?”

The angel had only known of the futuristic Winchesters for a couple of days now after barely escaping God, or Chuck as He preferred nowadays, in 2020 to get help with idea of going back to the past.

Sam and Dean, well _his_ Sam and Dean, had come along with him to the past, but there was no sight of them. Castiel tried to find them in the far distant future of 2056 to find out that Lucifer had been released once more, though not intentionally, by Sam’s namesake. The young German man, American wife, and one of his younger brothers were fleeing the country to avoid getting murdered by hunters while coming up with a plan. The other two siblings, Emma, and Danny were going to catch a later flight, as this Sam was angry about.

These Winchesters were trying to prevent the Apocalypse, not start it!

If history could be changed starting with the first Apocalypse, then a whole lot of tragedy could be prevented, including their own. These hunters were informed of the risk that none of them would live to see a better future, but they were insistent on saving the world as their predecessors had been. It had been Sam’s namesake’s idea to try to fix the past in the first place.

“Yes, that’s correct.” Castiel answered, then stumbled. “Myself from the past should’ve already borrowed Dean’s… _my_ Dean’s amulet,” and mentally cursed himself for wording it like that. “Anyways, they should be here not long after the attack begins. I have to go; be ready.”

Right before the seraph headed off, Sam looked at his brother. “You should be honest about your name as well, Dean. It shouldn’t jeopardize the past too much if you use it.” He said, knowing how overly cautious his younger brother could be. “Of course. Letting them know about our first names shouldn’t compromise our safety.” He answered, feeling terrible for not thinking of how hard it would be for the heroes Sam and Dean to trust hunters they didn’t know, especially if they didn’t even reveal their real first names. “We’ll be fine.”

* * *

**(Sam and Dean’s POV)**

The streets of River Pass, Colorado, were desolate and had an eerie feeling to it. Sam and Dean Winchester walked through the empty town with their guns close. Not a person was in sight and it was disconcerting. There was a sporting goods store on the near side of the street and the far end seemed to be residential. Unexpectedly, but not surprisingly, they found a blue Sedan with two doors was overturned and discovered to be empty. A sprinkler in front of one of the houses was running and tan car ahead was a tan car turned right side up with the driver’s door open, engine running, and the radio was playing ‘Spirit in the Sky,’ by Norman Greenbaum.

Sam turned the engine off and sighed more eeriness followed.

They noticed a welcoming banner hanging over the street to the town’s Pioneer Days and paused for a moment upon noticing a red classic Mustang that Dean expectantly admired and whistled with approval. Sam checked it and saw it was empty, and they were about to move on when they heard footsteps approach them. It was a couple, young man, and woman, probably two or three years, or maybe four years younger than Sam.

“Hey, what the hell happened here?!” Dean exclaimed as him and his brother noticed the blood stains on their clothes.

“Are you guys okay?” Sam added, noticing the both people had guns.

“Demons happened. I’m not sure of the origin yet.” The younger man, noticeably pale, answered in a European accent full of distress with his face covered in sweat, clearly exhausted with a worried look toward the girl. “They’re everywhere. One of those demonic bastards nearly killed my sister here.”

It wasn’t a surprise that other hunters were here, but it was a surprise that the European guy was as tall as Sam. The man, or maybe better described as a kid, had short black hair with floppy bangs shoved away from his face with the same glistering blue eyes that his, no, _not_ his, angel had. Was Dean seriously thinking that just now? So, what, what did that matter?

Either way the kid must have been through hell, not literally of course, drudging his way through all those demons. Then again, how could this kid and his sister take down demons to accumulate blood stains going from his shoes to his neck? He was dressed in a long-sleeved black buttoned-up shirt, black jeans, and a pair of black leather boots. It’s not as if the kid’s clothes were important, but how could somebody hunt wearing all that black? He looked a bit young to be an experienced hunter. The kid’s sister, on the other hand, was a little worse for wear. She looked around the same age, maybe a little bit older. She leaned on her brother after stopping to notice them, and he was clearly worried about her.

He was especially attentive toward her left shoulder where a small bit of her shirt was ripped with blood over it. It looked like she had been in contact with glass, or something like that, as her pants were ripped, and she had a few small cuts scattered throughout her legs, too. This girl was attractive, and kind of hot, if you’d ask Dean on a different occasion.

She was about ten inches shorter than him with long, curly dark brown hair and tanned skin. Her eyes were hazel and full of anxiety, so maybe not as experienced as her brother. It seemed that she wasn’t accustomed to her clothing having blood stains on them as her long-sleeved purple shirt, blue jeans, and light brown boots were somewhat stained like her brother’s, and she looked far more exhausted than him. She appeared rather disturbed by it, so she must’ve been a rookie hunter.

“I’m fine, really, Sam.” She said in a peeved tone, looking up at her sibling keeping her steady. “It’s just a flesh wound, I swear! We need to meet up with Dean and see if anyone else is here.”

Apparently, the taller guy’s name was Sam and they were looking for another person coincidentally called Dean. Those couldn’t have been their real names, could it?

“You know, I can tell whenever you’re lying, Rebekah. You took out, God, how many demons with my and Dean’s help?” The kid insisted with worry in his voice, then turning to Sam and Dean. “Have either of you seen another German guy, with black hair, military cut, brown eyes, and a couple inches shorter than me anywhere? He’s my brother.”

The boys shook their heads.

“No, man, you’re the first people we’ve seen here.” Dean answered, aware of their surroundings. “There’s gotta be a place without any freakin’ demons! We’ll take care of the rest.”

“We’ll look for your brother.” Sam added. “Was he anywhere near here?”

Both nodded.

“There’s others and maybe Dean was right about us going out alone was a bad idea.” The kid admitted reluctantly in a quiet manner, clearly displeased with being wrong. “He said he’d come after us if we didn’t come back in fifteen minutes.” Rebekah sighed, looking at her brother with concern, then glancing at the boys for a moment before turning back to him. “Sam, he’s probably already on his way! We should just head back.” She pointed out, clearly freaked out. “God, what if we get him killed?! It’ll be my fault.”

“No, it’d be my fault. I wanted to look more in the first place. He wouldn’t get killed that easily, you know that.” The kid argued with guilt in both his voice and in his blue eyes widening with fear. “Either way, we’ll find him, or he’ll find us. You know death isn’t really permanent with us, Rebekah.”

What did the kid mean that death wasn’t permanent for them? Dean didn’t think of asking Cas if any other people had been pulled out of Hell, and it made him and his want to know who the hell these people were. “We’ll find your brother _alive_.” Sam reassured them quietly with an empathetic look on his face. “Do you know a safe place you can hide and take care of your injuries?”

“Yeah, I’ll show you guys.” Rebekah answered as she began to lead the way there. “What are your names?”

* * *

**(Time-travelers’ POV)**

Sam Winchester’s namesake didn’t believe that hiding his nervousness around his ancestors would be _this_ difficult, especially with the awkward tension about him and his younger brother’s names. He didn’t want to lie to either of them anymore than he had to, as his wife and brother felt the same in that regard, especially to the hero he was named after.

He was brought back to reality when the brothers’ spoke their names.

“I’m Dean Winchester, and that’s my brother, Sam.” His brother’s namesake answered, then skeptically looking at his brother’s namesake. “Is that seriously your real name, dude?”

Sam nodded with a sincere look on his face as he started to lag the group, feeling more tension than he expected. Nevertheless, he kept his face free of the stress he had on his mind.

“My last name is Wolff, though.” He lied with pushing the guilt off his mind.

“Your brother’s name is Dean?” His namesake asked.

“Yeah, and he’s probably worried out of his mind about us.”

Sam understood how Rebekah could keep up the pretense and let them believe mostly, even if it were for a time, _lies_. She hadn’t had the privilege of growing up with the stories of the heroes who saved the world, nor raised in the image of one of those heroes.

She had a concerned look on her face.

“Which direction did you guys come from?” His namesake asked them, breaking the tension. “It’s past a gas station toward a church,” Rebekah answered quietly, for fear of demons around to hear them. “We’re not too far from there.”

* * *

**(Sam and Dean’s POV)**

The Winchester brothers didn’t expect to hear that the tall kid’s name was Sam and the brother him and his sister, Rebekah, was named Dean. If they believed in coincidences, it would ironic that their last name started with ‘w’ as well. Sam insisted that they stop and take a break somewhere safe while him and Dean would go find their brother, but both _politely_ refused. They were stuck with two younger hunters, who stubbornly went on despite their minor injuries, and the four of them reached the gas station.

Suddenly, a spark went off at the gas station they walked past, and the silver minivan parked not far from it with a large hole in the windshield. It had blood on the ground next to it, and the driver’s door of the car was open. They noticed a baby stroller next to it before moving on. Nobody said anything in the awkward tension and the Wolff siblings were looking around for their brother, visibly worried.

There was a gun cock.

Dean turned around and leveled his gun as Sam turned, and lowered his gun upon noticing a familiar face.

“Ellen?” Sam asked, surprised.

“Hello, boys.” She answered.

He glanced back over at Sam as Ellen lowered her gun and walked closer. “Ellen, what the heck’s going on here?” Dean asked her, surprised as well. She splashed him with holy water from a flask she drew from her jacket and raised her gun.

“We’re us.” He said and she lowered her gun as a tall, male figure walked quickly past her and the boys, toward the younger hunters in the back with a relieved look on his face until he saw the injuries, especially Rebekah’s. “What happened to you guys? I told you it was a bad idea going alone!” He exclaimed with a worried look on his face. “How many demons did you kill?!”

This must’ve been their brother, older probably, at least three years older than the tall kid and Rebekah just as described earlier. What did he mean by how many demons they killed? They didn’t have Ruby’s knife, so they could’ve possessed another weapon that _could_ kill demons.

The two younger siblings sighed.

Ellen walked between them in the direction they came from.

“Kids, let’s keep moving.” She called toward the Wolff siblings.

“Not enough, Dean. I’m fine, my shoulder is just dislocated.” The kid answered slightly irritably as him and his siblings began following her and boys. “You should look at Rebekah’s wounds first, one of those bastards almost dug a knife in her shoulder and knocked her into some broken glass.”

“Guys, it’s just flesh wound.” She said matter-of-fact tone, though clearly in pain.

“Rebekah, you know almost getting murdered should be something you take seriously.” Their older brother said seriously with a deep frown on his face. “It makes sense you probably don’t want to think about it, but—”

She put her hands up in frustration.

“I wish you guys stop treating me like I’m made of glass!” She said, a bit upset. “I’m a hunter just like both of you and I’m capable of more than you think I am. Have some faith in me, _please_.”

The tall kid looked at her with visible concern mixed with frustration.

“Yeah, we know that, Rebekah. You’re good, we’re not denying it.” He said, comforting her with kindness in his tone. “It’s just like how you still need help perfecting your torture method on demons, you’ll get there and become feared like I am one day, so relax.”

Wait, what? How was _that_ supposed to comforting?

_“I am not praying. I’m longing: Please.” – Meg Day_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original authors note: 
> 
> This chapter is finally done. I hope I kept the boys and Ellen in character, so if I didn’t, I’ll improve that in the next chapter. I mostly relied on the transcript for this episode since it’s easier for me to read it instead of re-watching while writing the chapter.
> 
> I tried for it not to sound bland in describing what occurs in the episode and threw in some Destiel references. Hopefully, I focused more on the boys than the time-travelers, and still had enough of the latter to provide more of a mystery.
> 
> Should I keep the POV format I have now, or should it be one POV per chapter? 
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed this!
> 
> \---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> Updated authors note (11\25\20)
> 
> My apologies for taking so long to fix this chapter up, and I should be getting to fixing the next one soon. Hope you guys find that the fixes done in this chapter to be acceptable and didn't take away any of the appeal of the original text. If there's still any inconsistencies or grammar errors, etc, please let me know.
> 
> \------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> Updated authors note 2\23\21:
> 
> I added the quotes I found to be fitting for this chapter.


	3. Chapter 2 - Going Off Script (Pt. 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The time-travelers may be a little over their heads right now, especially with Sam's namesake and Rebekah a little worse for wear right now. Stubborn and insistent on helping their ancestors, they're prepared for what's the come and may or may not have told them about Castiel providing the the time-travelers information.
> 
> More suspicion is coming upon them, and as a result of their carelessness, they may be exposed sooner than imagined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note: 
> 
> Well, originally, I planned to refer to the time-travelers by their aliases starting last chapter. I changed my mind last chapter and thought about series. Sam and Dean kept secrets from each other, and it caused distrust, and the time-travelers don’t want to cause any distrust to interfere with their goal of stopping the Apocalypse.  
> Hopefully, that makes sense. I’ll have to break this one up into three parts, since writing the events of the episode is taking way longer than I thought it would. I don’t want to try to shove all of it in a single chapter, and make it seemed rushed.  
> \----------  
> As for the original statement:
> 
> I have done a lot of research for this story and have been hesitant to post it, for I want to make sure I wrote my German main characters accurately. If I made any mistakes with either portrayal, please let me know and I will fix it. Any constructive criticism is welcome and please let me know what you guys think. I sincerely hope that the portrayals are accurate and are not offensive in any shape or form. If there are any grammar errors, please let me know and I can fix them.
> 
> \--------------------------------------------------------------  
> Updated authors note (12\20\20):
> 
> I also realized that I mixed up some of the timelines while other mistakes I'll be fixing in this chapter. I'm also aware that there are things like boring exposition at times (in my opinion anyways), inconsistencies within the plot, and admittedly, I hadn't had much direction for what I wanted to with this story up until I began coming up with ideas for chapter nine. I've been working on chapter ten, thinking more about the plot in the long-run, and I've come up with A LOT of new ideas! It'll still probably be some time until chapter ten comes out, given the large lack of planning up until a few months ago.
> 
> Sorry for the wait, everyone!

_“But our humanity is our burden, our life; we need not battle for it; we need only to do what is infinitely more difficult—that is, accept it.” – James Baldwin_

Year: 2009

Location: River Pass, Colorado

Timeline for this chapter: ? 

Chapter Two

Going Off Script (Pt. 2)

**(Time-travelers’ POV)**

Sam realized his mistake when he saw the strange glances his and Dean’s namesakes gave him upon his effort to comfort Rebekah. He knew that mistakes would be made, yet he didn’t expect himself to tune out of their surroundings in comforting his wife.

He knew that he was strange, even for hunter standards.

Most people wouldn’t pride themselves on having a reputation of being feared, monsters and hunters alike, nor would they see fear used to keep others safe. He knew that most people also wouldn’t understand why he considered fear to be a way of keeping people, even hunters who hated him and his family, safe.

Sam knew his violent tendencies and difficulties with containing them, oftentimes requiring one of his siblings or Rebekah to hold him back. He was especially keeping them the most vulnerable people save from himself, as he was considered dangerous for more than a few good reasons. It’s not like anybody outside of the family would understand if he would ever be drunk or high enough to talk about it with somebody. It worked efficiently for Sam and had recommended his three siblings to do the same as kids, and naturally recommended it for Rebekah as well.

The futuristic hunter experienced firsthand what it was like when he was in secondary school and considered fair game by more than a few jerks. As an adult and a member of widely hated hunting family, if no one feared him, they would be more inclined to try to kill him, or somebody he cared about. They needed to be feared, even if they didn’t like it. It would keep them safe from any vengeful hunters, or paranoid religious nuts believing they were working with demons to destroy the world.

Mentally scolding himself, he realized the effect of his words. He sounded like some of the monsters he hunted for a living, harming others for his own pure, sadistic amusement. His namesake would never condone this, maybe even after knowing the reason why.

 _Tut mir leid, Vati. Du hast mich nach dem Bild des Helden Sam erzogen und ich habe dich enttäuscht. Du hast versucht, mich zum Besseren zu verändern, aber ich weiß nicht, ob ich jemals ein guter Mensch sein kann._ ** _1_** Sam thought in remorse after seeing the suspicious look of his and Dean’s namesakes, too ashamed to think it in the same native language as his namesake, nearing the church. _Jetzt habe ich meinen Namensvetter fallen lassen! Wie wird er mir vergeben, auch wenn er will? **2**_

“Sammy, are you okay?”

His brother’s voice brought him back to reality, and unsurprisingly, his namesake looked back at hearing the nickname. “Huh?” Sam said quietly, shaken out of his mind, as he looked at Dean. “What did you say?”

Rebekah’s worried look sent his mind into a bigger spiral than it already was. The oldest Winchester son raised his younger siblings and took his then-girlfriend under his wing after she found about what his family did for a living. Dean sighed in concern, noticing his older brother was moping like somebody kicked his puppy, like he often did without realizing. “I asked if you’re okay.” He repeated tentatively. “You’re moping about something.”

Sam ran his hand through his hair in his frustration. “I’m fine.” He answered with a warning look toward his brother, pushing his floppy bangs out of his face displaying his guilt-tripping blue eyes. “Drop it.”

* * *

**(Sam and Deans’ POV)**

Neither of the boys had any idea what had just transpired. All both did was _look_ at the tall kid, wondering what he meant, and it sounded to be an odd way to comfort his sister as they arrived at the church. Ellen turned around before going inside, looking at the three hunters in behind them. “You both okay?” She asked, looking specifically at the younger two siblings.

“We’re fine. It’s just a few flesh wounds.” Rebekah answered vaguely, glancing a concerned look at her taller, silent, and moping brother as they walked into the church, toward the stairs. She looked over at her older brother.

“ _Please_ tell me you have pain killers, Dean.” She implored as the three walked past them, and the kid didn’t seem to even acknowledge their existence following Ellen inside and the involuntary flinch from the kid as the door shut behind them didn’t go unnoticed, who older brother and sister gave concerned glances to. “Yeah, of course. We’re out of Oxycontin, though. Is Vicodin okay?” They overheard her brother answer.

Either way, there were more important things going on right now.

There was a devil’s trap painted inside of the doorstep with a salt line across the still. Expectantly, all five of the hunters walked through without an issue, and Ellen turned the boys.

“Real glad to see you boys.” She said as she pulled Dean in for a hug, and then slapping him. “The can of whoopass I ought to open on you.” She said angrily as he exclaimed an ‘ow!’

“You can’t pick up a phone? What are you, allergic to giving me peace of mind?” She asked incredulously, clearly upset. “I got to find out that you’re alive from Rufus?”

“Sorry, Ellen.” Dean apologized.

“Yeah, you better be.” She said. “You better put me on speed dial, kid.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

There was a long pause as Ellen turned back around to lead them further inside. Dean glanced over at his younger followed her down the stairs. “What’s going on, Ellen?” He asked.

“More than I can handle alone.” She answered, calmer.

“How many demons are there?” Sam asked her.

“Pretty much the whole town and these guys. I don’t know what those two kids were thinking,” Ellen said, then sighing in exhaustion, “going out and thinking they can take _that_ many demons by themselves!”

Thinking back earlier, Sam overheard him say that there weren’t enough demons to kill, but _how_ could he kill them? It couldn’t be what he suspected, so they must have had a weapon unknown to him and Dean.

“Who are they, Ellen?” He asked her as they approached another door. “We overheard them talking; they were talking about _killing_ demons! We heard a few other weird things, too, how is death not a ‘permanent thing’ for them?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know much about them. They were already here when the attack happened, and already prepared, it looked like.” She said suspiciously. “So, this is it, right? End of times?”

The boys glanced at each other.

“It’s got to be.” Ellen said as she knocked on the door. “It’s me.”

* * *

**(Time-travelers’ POV)**

The German American Winchesters were sitting over in a corner area as Dean had disinfected her shoulder wound and begun to stitch it up at his brother’s insistence. Sam could wait on having his shoulder popped back into place as he graciously took a Vicodin with the sip of whiskey he had left in his flask in the meantime. Usually Rebekah wasn’t quick to take a painkiller, but she didn’t waste any time taking one as soon as they sat down in the corner.

He offered her the last of his whiskey to wash it down and she was smart to not turn it down as she normally would. They knew that the others’, including Ellen and her daughter, didn’t trust them. Reasonably so, as they were here before the attack and had been prepared for it, understandably not blaming the other people for staying away from them warily.

Sam, though, couldn’t help being annoyed at all of them for it.

He looked over at his brother, cautiously stitching up his wife’s shoulder.

“Ugh.” Rebekah groaned in discomfort, accidentally moving her shoulder, and felt a nick on her word. “Son of a bitch.” She muttered profanely, feeling the effects of the intensified painkillers working.

If she had never met Sam Winchester’s namesake and inadvertently became involved in the world of death, demons, and tragedy, she’d still be normal. Not that she blamed him or his family, she felt dirty taking stolen narcotics for pain and washing it down with whiskey, knowing what doctors say about _not_ doing that.

“I’m sorry.” Dean apologized. “Are you all right, Rebekah? I’m about halfway done.” She nodded, feeling the stinging feeling fading, thanks to the Vicodin and whiskey.

His older brother looked up upon hearing somebody come to the door and checking the peephole. “Hey, Sam, it’s okay.” Rebekah assured her husband. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

He shook his head in disbelief as he snorted, not speaking a word.

“Hör zu, es geht dir gut, Sam. Niemand wird dir Schaden wollen.” Dean said in German, looking up briefly at his brother for a moment, before going back to stitching her shoulder back up. “Du bist sicher, ich schwöre. Wir würden nie zurückgehen, wenn wir es nicht wären.”

Rebekah was about to speak up when the door opened and saw their namesakes and Ellen come inside, noticing her husband involuntarily flinch again at the sound. “Dean hat Recht, wir lassen nie zu, dass dir jemand wehtut.” She spoke up in her lack of complete fluency in German, and he seemed to relax little with their help.

“Sammy, I’m about done stitching up Rebekah’s shoulder.” His younger brother spoke up, looking back up from the stitches. “I’ll pop your shoulder back in place, and take care of any other injuries you have, okay?” 

He nodded, saying nothing.

* * *

**(Sam and Deans’ POV)**

Ellen and the boys walked in and there were a few people, including the suspicious hunters, all in all adding the number to sixteen. Those three appeared comfortably as far as everyone else, which included an interesting group of people. A pastor, an older woman, and young man with his arm wrapped around a pregnant woman, among others. Additionally, a man with short hair, another with a long-beard, one wearing glasses, a young woman, and a man with shaggy hair were present.

They a heard sound of a shoulder pop and a groan of pain briefly in the silence.

“This is _also_ Sam and Dean. They’re hunters, too. Here to help.” Ellen stated the awkward introduction, glancing at the Wolff siblings in the back, skeptical about their motives.

“You guys hip to this demon thing?” The man who opened the door asked them.

“Yeah, are you?” Dean answered.

“My wife’s eyes turned black. She came at me with a brick.” The man with glasses said, bringing his right hand to his chin with a ring on it. “Kind of makes you embrace the paranormal.”

The older Winchester turned to Ellen. “Alright, catch us up.” He said.

“Doubt I know much more than you. Rufus called. Said he was in town investigating omens. The kids in the back said they don’t know anything either.” Ellen explained, reminding them of the elephant in the room. “All of a sudden, the whole town was possessed. Me and Jo were nearby—”

Dean stopped her. “You’re hunting with Jo?”

“Yeah, for a while now. We got here, and the place—well, the place was like you see it.” She elaborated further. “Couldn’t find Rufus, then me and Jo got separated. I was out looking when I found you and helping the older kid in the back to find his brother and sister.”

Somebody spoke up and it was the older Wolff brother’s soft German accent.

“Black-eyed demons are the least of our worries; they’re probably just distractions as for why they’re here. Anyways, we’re up against something far bigger.” He said, somewhat nervously, setting the room off in alert. “Have any of you heard of one of the Four Horseman, War? My siblings and I have knowledge of him, but I’m afraid it’s not sufficient enough to rely on.”

Ellen looked at the older boy. “Why didn’t you say something earlier?” She asked. “Could’ve made everything a lot less complicated, kid. What do you know about this?”

The older Wolff brother sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck anxiously.

“I—I apologize.” He stammered. “My siblings and I were informed that the Winchester brothers would be here sometime today. My younger brother suggested we wait until they get here, so we don’t have to repeat ourselves.”

Sam and Dean paused in suspicion.

“Who told you about us, dude?” Dean asked the strange kid.

“You won’t believe me, but an angel told us.” The kid continued nervously.

* * *

**(Time-travelers’ POV)**

Dean Winchester’s namesake wasn’t an impulsive person by nature and him normally thought all his decisions, but he put his foot in his mouth this time. He had to admit a detail that they wanted to keep hidden, mentioning an angel told them. He prayed nobody would ask which angel he was talking about.

“What’s the angel’s name?” His older brother’s namesake asked.

If he lied and say any other angel’s name, or said they didn’t identify themselves, the three of them would be caught in a lie that could increase suspicion. He thought for a second, then turned to his older brother who seemed to be starting to return to his meticulous and arrogant self.

Sam stood up from where he was sitting.

“His name is Castiel, from what he told us. I know you probably think we’re lunatics, but we know there’s serious shit going on. Lucifer’s been accidentally risen, and he must be either killed or put back in the Cage in Hell at the very least.” He said honestly and sincerely, hoping that his namesake would feel better. “No blame should be placed on whoever did it; nobody deserves condemnation for trying to do the right thing, even if they were manipulated with impure intentions in doing so.”

* * *

**(Sam and Deans’ POV)**

Dean’s mind was blown, they were either lying or an angel was impersonating Cas.

His, _not_ his, angel wouldn’t give away information like that to a few hunters who seemed like they had knowledge of this before it happened. Where would they even get this information if they were lying? Plus, how did the younger kid know Sam wasn’t trying to release Lucifer? Seriously, how many angels would know the intimate details about this whole Apocalypse fiasco? It was more like a ‘you had to be there,’ sort of thing to understand, so how would the kid know?

He glanced over at Sam, surprised by the younger Wolff brother’s admission.

Who was he, and how did he know all of this?

He heard the sympathy and kindness in the kid’s tone when addressing that part of his admission, like he knew what it felt like to screw up as badly as he did. It was like the kid intended that message for him, like he _knew_ Sam one way or another.

Silence followed and the two German brothers sat back down.

“We got to get them out now.” Sam said.

“No, it’s not that easy. I’ve been trying.” Ellen explained remorsefully. “We already made a run for it once. Those three kids tried telling us not to go, that more people would die if we did.”

“What happened?” Sam asked, wondering if one of the Wolff siblings were psychic to possibly know beforehand what happened in the town if they were lying about Cas telling them everything. He doubted they were.

“There used to be twenty of us.” She elaborated, wishing she’d listened to the warning. The boys checked the room and realized that, excluding the six hunters, only ten remained.

Dean spoke up. “Well, there’s six of _us_ now—”

Ellen interrupted with urgency. “You don’t know what it’s like out there. Demons are everywhere. We won’t be able to cover everybody.” She tried to reason with the older Winchester. “Two of _us_ are injured; they won’t last out there.”

* * *

**(Time-travelers’ POV)**

Sam knew he was injured, despite his shoulder back in place, but some cuts and a little shoulder pain that weren’t deep enough to need stitches would keep him out. He knew what his limits were, though Dean would try to reason him and Rebekah out of helping. His wife, on the other hand, needed to rest for as long as possible, even though she wouldn’t admit it. The Winchester pride was starting to rub off on her, though, she was better off not having their bad luck streak rubbing off on her, too.

Plus, he was a bit drowsy from the Vicodin and washing it down with whiskey, but he was too energized and motivated to feel too much of it. Rebekah seemed a bit more tired, and he knew that if he weren’t with her, Dean would take her back to the church and stay with her if she needed to doze off.

When he was just dating her in college, he noticed her resilience and he thought it was admirable and telling her that. He thought it was more admirable than ever now that Rebekah was willing to risk her life for a better future, but it honestly scared him how at peace she was with death. Not even Sam himself was at peace with death; he had too much work left to do.

She became family to him, and he would rather give his life for her and his siblings rather than allow them to die. Unfortunately, he couldn’t reason with her, and he had made sure she didn’t get herself killed. Now was the time to fight, and he considered it necessary that Dean made the initial mistake of revealing too much information. He realized they were sharing too little with people in the past, especially with their namesakes and the Harvelle’s.

Sam wouldn’t back down now, even though Ellen meant well by her reasoning.

“Actually, I’d rather get killed than allow more people to die because I let somebody bench me. I’ve hunted with worse injuries, so there’s no reason to think my shoulder would stop me.” He said bluntly and stubbornly, feeling a bit insulted by her as he stood up with one of his expected attention-seeking monologues. “If something as insignificant as shoulder pain would prevent me from hunting, I’d think myself pathetic and embarrassed to call myself a hunter.”

Rebekah followed suit, expecting her husband to grab everyone’s attention with a short speech. It would be unlike to him _not_ want everyone’s attention and gain their admiration, although he _did_ mean every word he said as he wanted from them. “I’m not getting benched either.” She said stubbornly as well, sitting instead of standing up. Unlike Sam, she didn’t like attention and she didn’t like people staring at her, even if it was her being praised. 

Sam had never been one to sit back and let someone else take attention away from him, honestly making her consider that his upbringing had something to do with his constant seeking of praise. Aside from his inflated ego whether it be by Narcissistic Personality Disorder or because of how he was raised, the pregnant woman in the room appeared nervous and a brief silence followed upon him sitting back down. Ellen didn’t argue with either of them over it, probably figuring it was hopeless.

* * *

**(Sam and Deans’ POV)**

Nobody was expecting the younger Wolff brother to stand up and state why he wasn’t giving up, like he was expecting a Nobel Prize for it. The kid was driven, that was for sure, and so was Rebekah. Dean could’ve gone without listening to the short monologue, though. Sam thought a bit longer about what they could do; he could save figuring the tall kid out later. “What if we get everyone guns?” He suggested to the group, and his brother replied, “What, are you gonna arm up baby bump over here?”

“More salt we can fire at once, more demons we can keep away.” He reasoned.

Dean glanced over at him and at the pastor before speaking up. “There's a sporting goods store we passed on Main on the way in. I bet they got guns.” He said and dropped his bag at the same time Sam did.

“Alright. You stay. We’ll go.” His younger brother said toward Ellen.

“What about—” He interrupted her.

“If Jo and Rufus are out there, we’ll bring them back.”

The guy opened the door, and the boys headed out with the three Wolff siblings following them. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on.” Dean said, stopping at the foot of the stairs, looking at Sam and three hunters who invited themselves.

“Why don’t I just go?” He suggested.

“What?” Sam asked incredulously “Alone?”

“Well, yeah.” He said, noticing the younger Wolff brother trying to pass him by nonetheless, as if he didn’t even hear them or consider the danger of going out without immediate backup. “Somebody’s got to stay here and start giving them Shotgun 101.”

“Yeah. Ellen.” Sam answered.

He began to head upstairs, and Dean reached out to stop him. “No, no, no. It’s gonna go a lot faster if you stay and help, okay?” He insisted, then shooting the tall German kid an annoyed look. “Take the kid with you, too.”

Surely, the kid’s siblings wouldn’t let him go out by himself.

“While you go get guns _and_ salt _and_ look for Jo and Rufus? That’s stupid.” Sam argued back as the younger Wolff brother scoffed and rolled in his eyes with a well-practiced bitch face in obvious irritation with Dean trying to tell him what to do, but remaining quiet and glancing a look back at Sam as if to ask him to come along regardless of what Dean wanted him to do. “You can’t tell any of them what do to either.”

“I can handle it.”

Sam paused, realizing something important and it angered him. “You don’t want me going out there,” He said incredulously, “and you want them to make sure I don’t go out since they know something about this.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Around demons.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Fine, then let’s go.” The younger Winchester said, gesturing for the three siblings to go ahead of them and following up the stairs behind them.

* * *

**(Time-travelers’ POV)**

“I’ll get the salt. You get the guns.” Sam’s namesake told his brother, then turning to him, surprisingly. “If you could be a look out in the store, that would be great, man.”

The oldest futuristic Winchester sibling realized that his namesake probably wanted to ask him about what he meant back at the church. _Vielleicht habe ich doch eine Chance, seinen Respekt zu verdienen, Vati._ **6** He thought, resisting a smile he wanted to show. _Vielleicht hast du es nicht versäumt, mich aufzuziehen. Gott, ich wünschte, du könntest mich jetzt sehen._ **7**

“We’ll go together, just you and me.” The hero Dean insisted, much to Sam’s exasperation and growing impatience, but kept quiet out of respect for his younger brother’s namesake as much as he wanted to tell him how pointless it was to try to control what he did. If his father tried and failed nearly every time in that task when it got in the way of what the futuristic hunter knew was the right thing to do, then the hero Dean couldn’t either. “Those three will just keep a lookout here.”

“Dean, it’s right there.” His namesake seemed quite exasperated and impatient himself, and the young man hoped that the hero Sam would snap his brother into reason, or else he’d snap and do it himself, regardless of who Dean’s namesake was. “Can we at least do this like professionals?” He raised his gun and unknowingly turned to the futuristic named after him. “If you want to stay with your brother and sister, I get it, man.”

Sam glanced over at his siblings.

“Don’t worry. Rebekah and I will keep a lookout here.” Dean reassured him as he always did, even if his disagreeable personality would sometimes get on his younger brother’s nerves. “Just stay safe, Sammy.” He smiled faintly at the supportive brother he didn’t think he deserved and headed behind his namesake, who had raised his gun, toward the Quick-Mart. Sam kept his gun close, ready to shoot if need be and the well-worn out and somewhat rusted demon killing knife in his pocket.

The futuristic hunter hoped his namesake didn’t think badly of him.

_“I can’t describe how I feel, but it’s not quite right and it leaves me cold.” F. Scott Fitzgerald_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> German translations:
> 
> 1 “I’m sorry, Dad. You raised me in the hero Sam’s image, and I failed you. You tried to change me for the better, but I don't know if I can ever be a good person.”  
> 2 “Now, I’ve let my namesake down! How will he forgive me, even if he wants to?”  
> 3 “Listen, you're alright, Sam. Nobody will want to harm you.”  
> 4 “You’re safe, I swear. We’d never go back here if we weren’t.”  
> 5 “Dean is right; we will never let anybody hurt you.”  
> 6 “Maybe I have a chance to earn his respect after all, Dad.”  
> 7 “Maybe you hadn't failed raising me. God, I wish you could see me right now.”
> 
> I hope the online translator I used is accurate, if not then please let me know.
> 
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> Updated authors note (1\24\21): I fixed this chapter up, so it should be error free now.
> 
> \------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> Updated authors note (1\23\21): I added the two fitting quotes to it.


	4. Chapter 3 - Going off Script (pt. 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things don't go as planned when going out to find Jo. Sam and his time-traveler named after him end up getting caught and tied up by Rufus and Jo, who think they're demons. Dean, Ellen, and the two other time-travelers must figure out what do and save the two hunters in time. Now, the time-travelers' insight for what will happen in the future comes in handy, and they know what they must do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note: 
> 
> At last, the second to last part of episode two. I’ll get the hang out writing out episodes better, hopefully not relying on the transcripts of the episodes too often, and I think I’m doing okay as far as that goes. I hope nothing in the canon characters’ have been OOC, and if so, how can I improve that?
> 
> Thank you for all who’ve enjoyed my Supernatural fic, subscribed, bookmarked, and left kudos. I must apologize for not saying that sooner, I really appreciate all who enjoy my story. It’s just been crazy lately and I’ve been more forgetful than usual.
> 
> Anyhow, I decided to deviate a bit and throw in Sam’s POV on the time-traveler who defended his actions since I’ve mostly focused on Dean and Castiel’s perspectives. I should have focused more on his perspective more in the last couple of chapters instead of zeroing in on Dean and Cas’ profound bond, so my apologies there.  
> Of course, not neglecting neither of them. 
> 
> I have only one part left to write of this episode, and I need to figure out how to write out the episodes (with alterations) without having to divide it into three or four parts like this. I don’t want my writing to seem rushed or write the tone of the emotional tone of the original episode too carelessly and flippantly. I hope that I kept the tone of the episode as is and didn’t diminish any of the important moments.
> 
> \-----------
> 
> As for the original statement:
> 
> I have done a lot of research for this story and have been hesitant to post it, for I want to make sure I wrote my German main characters accurately. If I made any mistakes with either portrayal, please let me know and I will fix it. Any constructive criticism is welcome and please let me know what you guys think. I sincerely hope that the portrayals are accurate and are not offensive in any shape or form. If there are any grammar errors, please let me know and I can fix them.

_“At six I lived in a graveyard full of dolls, avoiding myself, my body, the suspect in its grotesque house.” – Anne Sexton_

Year: 2009

Location: River Pass, Colorado

Chapter Three

Going Off Script (Pt. 3)

**(Sam’s POV)**

Sam Winchester was fed up with reality, to say the least. His older brother didn’t seem to trust him, but although manipulated, he was still the person who set Lucifer free.

Now, that strange hunter with a nearly identical first and last name defended his actions, stating that he shouldn’t have been blamed for any of it. If the kid and his two siblings were getting information from Cas, then why hadn’t the angel told them that others were helping with stopping Lucifer? Maybe the angel who talked to the German American hunters had been lying about their name. Sam doubted they were lying; it seemed to be too specific to be a lie, because if it were, they would be found out and exposed very quickly.

Surely, they must’ve been smarter than that.

He asked that the strange hunter come with him to the Quick-Mart for the reason of asking him why he defended the younger Winchester, and if he were being honest. The kid agreed readily, after checking with his siblings first, who didn’t seem worried at all about their brother going somewhere alone with a hunter they barely knew.

The two of them walked into the Quick-Mart

“Hey, man, why did you defend me back there?” He asked.

The kid ran his hand through his hair tensely. “Because it wasn’t your fault. Why should you be blamed for what a demon tricked you into doing?” He answered with his blue eyes sympathizing toward Sam’s remorseful hazel eyes. “You were used as a puppet for the demons to get what they want, and yet you’re being blamed for something you never wanted a part in. It’s not right at all.”

Sam had a hard time believing it, despite the young man having a point. “How do you know all of this?” He asked, yet his gratitude for the kind words remained. “You said Cas told you all of this, right?”

“You won’t believe me.” The kid answered with a defeated look in his eyes, widening with shame. “It’s true that Castiel informed us of when and where this attack would happen…. I’m from the future and I was named after you.”

Sam paused for a moment upon heading toward the empty front desk and grabbed a couple of plastic bags for putting the cans of rock salt in. He knew that time-travel was possible through angels, but what did the kid mean by being named after him?

The young man looked only a few years younger than him, maybe about twenty-two or twenty-three, with an honest look on his face. Meekly following behind him, like he trusted Sam wholeheartedly.

It was true that people could fake emotions like that, but he had a feeling the kid was telling the truth. “What do you mean you were named after me, dude?” He asked, suspecting that maybe he had a kid or maybe Dean had a kid he named after his younger brother.

They approached the cans of rock salt and both began putting as many cans as possible inside the bags. “My great-uncle was John Winchester, and I don’t know if you remember he had a younger brother…” The kid paused, like he was trying to form his words correctly. “Anyways, Uncle John’s brother had twins and one of those twins is my dad, who named me and one of my brothers after you and Dean. _Please_ believe me, I don’t want to see more people die for not listening to our warnings.”

Sam didn’t have time to respond, except for an initial gasp upon looking at the kid when the door of the Quick-Mart chimed as two demons came in. He ducked down and pulled the kid down with him and found the mirror watching them, who seemed to be about to confront them with his hand about to reach for a visible gun in his jeans pocket.

One of the demons were carrying a baseball bat and the other had a backpack.

The younger Winchester grabbed his shotgun from the top of the row of Campbell soup cans and kid instinctively pulled out a .44 caliber pistol from his jeans pocket, thus alerting one of their demons collecting water of their presence.

The demon rushed toward him and the kid, punching and shoving him in the shelf.

The kid, though, seemed to have a plan of his own.

Sam punched and shoved the demon back into one of the shelves, and noticed the younger hunter snuck away, probably planning for a sneak attack. The son of a bitch got the upper hand and wrapped his around Sam’s neck.

“Exorcisamus te, omnis immundus—” He began an exorcism.

It was cut off by the kid surprising the demon from behind and stabbing him.

Unexpectedly, for both Sam and the demon, the son of a bitch died, like how they did with Ruby’s knife. He looked at the kid in more confusion than anything but seemed distracted by the blood on the knife for a moment.

Shaking his head, the kid looked back up at Sam uncomfortably, like he was resisting an urge. The younger Winchester looked around for the other demon, momentarily distracted by his concern for the young man, who jumped him from behind.

Quickly thinking, Sam pulled out Ruby’s knife and stabbed the demon in the neck and didn’t notice the normal side-effects of the knife used on the demon. The blood on it and on the floor was enticing, and he looked at it intensely.

He ran his finger along the blood of the deceased demon, collecting a little bit on it on his finger, contemplating it. The kid looked over at him, unexpectedly concerned.

“We should find some paper towels and clean off our knives,” he suggested thoughtfully, but he felt that craving again for the blood and here they were, standing between two dead demons.

The door chimed and the two ducked down once more, watching the mirror.

“Sammy?”

It was Dean, who sat his bags down.

He sighed in relief and stood up, gesturing for the hesitant young man to stand up as well. “It’s my brother. We’re safe, okay?” Sam assured the kid as his older brother walked down the aisles to the two demon’s dead on the floor and two identical knives, one just more worn out than the other, dripping blood.

* * *

**(Time-travelers’ POV)**

When they had returned to the church with their ancestors, Dean and Rebekah noticed Sam was visibly shaken. They had no idea what happened in the Quick-Mart, nor did they know what set the older Winchester brother into a panic attack.

It was also strange that Sam gave his brother the demon killing knife, but the other two futuristic Winchesters had their suspicions on _why_ he did that. It was still a sensitive topic, and neither of them wanted to upset him more than he already was.

Either way, Dean told Sam and Rebekah to just try to get comfortable and get a little bit of sleep in, as the narcotics were _really_ making them tired now. They were both too tired to argue with him, nor was Sam in the mood to tell them about what happened while with his namesake.

Both lay their heads on the table, using extra jackets they brought for just in case, thankfully they didn’t have to use and get blood on. Sam and Rebekah were tired of walking around looking like they barely survived a bloodbath, and they were beyond worn out.

Everyone was busy in the church. The shaggy-haired man and older woman were assembling sells, and the guy with glasses (apparently named Roger) was practicing loading a shotgun.

“Okay, all right.” He said.

“Roger, hang on a second—” Ellen began to say.

The man fumbled and dropped the shell.

“Sorry.”

Dean was worn out himself, but he wasn’t tired enough to crash at the time like Sam and Rebekah were. He didn’t need any painkillers today either, or in general, only took them when in severe pain.

Sam and Rebekah didn’t normally take any during crises like this either, but he knew they needed painkillers to get through this alive. He wished both wouldn’t be so impulsive and nearly get themselves killed more times than he could count.

Rebekah was _a lot_ like his brother when it came to lack of self-control and not thinking before acting, from Dean learned after hunting with her for about a year. It was no wonder the couple hunted well together but had more a tendency to get injured together as well sometimes.

Both were dedicated, loyal, and selfless; it was no wonder Sam was drawn to her when he left the family business for college eight years ago, and why she had been drawn to him in return.

He decided to assist with helping anybody who never help with shotgun training, keeping an eye out on both from afar. All three of them were safe here, so he could leave them alone for a little bit.

 _Why didn’t any of us think to bring any shotguns? We’ll be fine._ Dean thought, reassuring himself with an inward sigh, glancing over at Sam and Rebekah sleeping like rocks. _Sammy has his .44 Bulldog and I have my M &P9. Rebekah isn’t having any trouble using her Glock 17, plus we have back-up. _

Sam’s namesake was a doing a demonstration of loading a shotgun for the young man and pregnant woman. “—Then snap it in.” He instructed whilst Dean’s namesake had set the butt of a rifle on the table and faced the guy who opened the door earlier.

Apparently, his name was Austin.

The twenty-four-year-old looked to see if anybody needed any help, while relieved knowing his brother and sister-in-law were still peacefully sleeping over there. He was about to approach the table and checked to see if he could be of any assistance before his namesake came over. 

“You know your way around a gun?” His namesake asked the guy.

Austin expertly disassembled the gun.

Dean and his three siblings, two older than him, were taught how to do this back all starting at the young age of seven, when their father was taught at the same age. It was like second nature to him among other skills many little kids weren’t being taught at home, like how to shoot and kill monsters.

“Hm. Where’d you serve?”

“Fallujah. Two tours. Got back a little over a year ago.” Austin answered. “Takes one to know one. Where’d you serve?”

“Hell.”

The guy snorted, amused by the answer.

“No, seriously.” He said.

“Seriously. Hell.”

Dean felt terrible for his namesake, ever since hearing the story when he went to Hell and heard only bits of surviving pieces of the story as a kid. He wasn’t close enough to be noticed immediately, but he was within hearing range.

* * *

**(Sam and Dean’s POV)**

Sam was sitting alone in the corner, deep in thought.

“Hey.”

His brother’s voice brought out of his thoughts.

“Hey.” He replied.

Dean sat down. “What’s wrong?” He asked, concerned.

Sam looked down. “It’s just...at the store. Those demons were possessing teenagers.” He said. “I mean, I had to slit some kid’s throat.”

“Come on, Sam, you had to.” His brother reasoned.

“I know. I just...it used to be like...” He paused, thinking of how he could kill the demon, but save the person they took over. “I just wish I could save people like I used to.”

“What, you mean when you were all hopped up on demon blood?”

“I didn’t say that.” Sam replied.

**(Time-travelers’ POV)**

“I’ll be back.”

Dean overheard Ellen not far from him as he was assisting with the shotgun training, whilst keeping an eye on the sleeping Sam and Rebekah. She was standing in front of their namesakes, who were sitting in the opposite corner of the church.

“Where you going?” He heard his namesake ask her.

“I can’t sit here on my ass. My daughter’s out there somewhere.” Ellen said determinedly and hurried over there. “I’m not back in half an hour, go. Get these people out of here.”

 _Sam and Rebekah should’ve had enough sleep by now._ Dean thought with remorse of having to wake them up to go back out, despite he wanted to not wake them and let them sleep. _God, they’d kill me if I let them rest. We **must** save Ellen and Jo. _

He saw his and Sam’s namesakes stand up, and they noticed him approaching.

“No, wait.” His brother’s namesake said. “I’ll go with you.”

“Whoa, hold on.” His namesake protested. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

Dean saw them leave the room with a devil’s trap and salt line at that door as well, and he internally sighed in relief, speed walking over to them. This gave him time to wake up Sam and Rebekah, and maybe a little bit of time to get awake.

* * *

**(Sam and Dean’s POV)**

“You’re gonna go out again?” Dean asked his younger brother, knowing why he wanted to, but didn’t think it was a good idea with what just happened. “Well, crap doesn’t hit the fan with coffee breaks.” Sam retorted.

“I’ll go.”

“It’s fine. Just stay here, get ‘em ready. I’ll cover Ellen.” His brother insisted.

“Why’s it got to be you?”

“Oh, that’s right, I forgot.” Sam argued. “You think I’ll take one look at a demon and suddenly fall off the wagon, as if, after everything, I haven’t learned my lesson.”

“Well, have you?”

He shoved Dean into the wall, not focusing on the fact that the door was still open. “If you actually think I—” Sam snapped, but then he cut himself off and after a long pause, he headed back into the room.

* * *

**(Time-travelers’ POV)**

Dean and Rebekah thought after that fight, Sam’s namesake would be reluctant and even angry at their insistence to come along. Only Sam, though, didn’t give up on his namesake changing his mind. They knew he was persuasive and could easily guilt trip just about anybody to make things go his way with the gift of puppy dog eyes he had. If the oldest Winchester brother wanted something badly, then he got it, no matter what he had to do to get it with a drawing a moral line when it came to his family.

“If you don’t want us staying with you two, my siblings and I will go our own way to find Jo. I should inform you as well that I’m from the future and my namesake beside you,” Sam insisted with his puppy dog stare directly at Ellen, gesturing to the hunter he was named after, “will tell you that I’m not lying about knowing what’ll happen if you try to keep me here.”

Dean and Rebekah face-palmed at the same time.

What the hell did he tell his namesake while in the store?

“Verdammt, was denkst du, Sammy?!” **1** Dean muttered under his breath.

“Was hat sein Namensvetter gesagt? Gott, wir sind jetzt am Arsch, Dean.” **2** Rebekah muttered, looking toward him.

“Vielleicht, vielleicht nicht. Sam hat immer einen guten Grund, Pläne zu ändern, und manchmal klappt das zu unserem Vorteil.” **3** He answered, mindful of her limited German. “Bald wird Krieg auf uns zukommen.” **4**

She appeared shaken, reasonably the thought of War making his appearance, and he put his hand on her shoulder. “Es wird alles gut, Rebekah.” **5** He comforted her. “Wir würden nie zulassen, dass dir etwas passiert.” **6**

They watched Sam work his magic in silence as Rebekah had begun to calm down, and it seemed to surprise both Ellen and his namesake. It caught them off guard, and there _was_ a reason why it was best to let the twenty-six-year-old do the negotiating instead of them.

“He’s not lying, Ellen.” Sam’s namesake said, coming to his aid. “No offense, but didn’t him, his brother, and sister tell you something would happen, and it did? It’d be stupid to not let them help.”

Ellen sighed, looking at the futuristic hunter, who put away his puppy eyes.

“Grab your brother and sister, kid.” She said. “We’re heading out.”

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He was getting tired of being called a kid.

* * *

**(Sam’s POV)**

Sam was just planning on going out to find Jo with Ellen, and he figured the three of them would want to come back out. He knew that kid wasn’t lying, and he needed to ask them what bad thing would happen next.

They decided to regroup and go different directions to cover more ground.

Him and Ellen passed the tan car from earlier and the sprinkler was still on.

“So, where’d you last see her?” He asked.

“Up ahead. So, what’s up with you and Dean?” She asked, clearly concerned.

Sam looked over and then back.

“It was hard not to notice; how different things are between you guys these days.” Ellen said and he was silent. “Lot of bad road there, huh? What happened? Some girl come between you or something?”

“Just—stresses of the job. You know how it is.” Sam answered tensely, vaguely, then changed the subject. “Kind of surprised, you and Jo hunting. Weren't you always saying she couldn’t hack the life?”

“She can’t. But if she’s gonna do it anyway—”

“You want to keep an eye on her.” He finished for her, then looked down the street, and noticed smoke rising behind the trees. “Hey,” he said, pointing up toward the smoke.

“Is that a chimney going?” Ellen asked.

“Looks like.” Sam said. “Come on.”

* * *

**(Time-travelers’ POV)**

**Thirty minutes earlier**

Sam, Dean, and Rebekah were coming near a house that smoke coming out of the chimney and hid behind the another building to look. There was a visible black-eyed demon inside, and two demons attacked them. One of them, one who looked like Jo Harvelle, managed to grab Sam, and held him against the wall, taking his gun off him. A second one came from behind them, preventing their exit. Dean instinctively stabbed the demon, but the normal effects of killing a demon weren’t present.

 _I didn’t kill a demon, did I? What the hell did I kill?_ He thought in horror, glancing down at the ‘demon,’ then looking over at Rebekah who didn’t seem to notice. _God, please, tell me I didn’t kill a person! Shit!_

He put the knife away in fear that he might not have killed a demon at all and decided to his less lethal gun. He needed to let Sam and Rebekah know that, since his brother was preoccupied.

“Dean, Rebekah, get out of here!” He yelled over at them. “Get help!”

They, of course, wouldn’t listen to him.

Shooting Jo, possessed by a demon or not, wasn’t an option.

If that guy, whatever he was, hadn’t been a demon, then was Jo even possessed in the first place? Dean was confused for a moment, then he realized that he was forgetting something important.

“Got you, son of a bitch! I knew you had something to do with demons coming here!” She snapped, aiming his own gun against his head, then turning to them for a moment. “Why’d you wait so long to let one ‘em possess you?”

Sam scoffed, glaring at her back. He could easily overpower her, but he knew he’d hurt her if he did. When he tended go all out on somebody, it usually turned out violent and bloody.

“Us? Demons? You’re the one with black eyes right now, not us.” He snapped back at her, prompting Dean to remember something. “I’d rather castrate myself than defile my mother’s memory by working with the monsters who killed her!”

“Sammy, she’s not a demon! War is causing us to mistake each other for demons.” He called out with a little bit more emotion in his voice than usual, prompting Jo to look at both for a second. “Jo, we’re not demons. Just _please_ listen to us.”

She rolled her black eyes. “Yeah, right.” She said dryly, then looking toward the direction in front of them, where a male figure stood. “Rufus, over here! We got three of them.” Jo said, gesturing for him to help her out.

Sam remembered that as he fought against her less forcefully than he wanted to, as they were about to approach him, despite back-up coming to capture them, too. He wished they would just go and get help already, and he knew that he would be fine.

“Jesus fucking Christ, just go get help! You’ll get caught, too, if you stay. What good would that do anybody?!” He yelled at them, making them realize how truly screwed they would be if they got themselves caught as well. “Go find the hero Sam and Ellen already, for fuck’s sake!”

Regretfully, Rufus (with black eyes) was closing on them and they fled. “At least we got you, kid.” He said, as looked at the futuristic hunter, making Sam wish he didn’t let Jo catch him off guard in the first place.

 _I’ll get rescued soon, or these idiots will come to their senses. Either way, I’ll be fine._ He thought irritably with a huff, half-cursing his youthful looks. _What is with everyone calling me a kid? I don’t look like a kid at all! I’m **twenty-six**._

* * *

**(Sam’s POV)**

Sam woke up tied up in a chair and he yanked at ropes, then noticing the kid tied up in a chair next to him, with his head drooping down, like he was sleeping. It appeared that they were in the living room of a house with a fireplace, and he noticed a black-eyed Jo and Rufus.

She was holding a gallon of water

“Uh-uh. No way you’re getting out of those. Did you up myself.” Rufus said, glancing the kid tied up next to him for a moment. “You’re stuck right where I want you, you evil son of a bitch.”

He looked at Rufus angrily in disbelief. “What did you do to him?” He demanded.

“Oh, the kid? Little punk wore himself out.” Rufus said, glancing at the younger hunter tied up beside Sam. “Why do you care about him? Besides, don’t you got yourself to worry about?”

The kid looked passed out at the very least.

Rufus backhanded him as Jo splashed him with water, looking at him confused. What, did they think him, and the kid were demons? The older, possessed hunter grabbed Sam’s neck and forced his head back.

“No, wait, wait, wait.” Sam insisted, fearfully.

 _Is that what they did to him, too? How long has he been out?_ He thought worriedly, concerned for him and the kid getting out of there alive. _How long has he been here? What else did they do to him?_

Jo put down the jug and went around to hold his head back.

“Just, just wait.”

Rufus poured salt on Sam’s face and into his mouth.

“Exorcisamus te, exorcisamus te, omnis satanica—” He began to recite.

“Stop!”

“—omnis immundum—”

“Please!”

* * *

**(Dean’s POV)**

Dean was pacing whilst the pastor sat at the table with the older woman, short-haired man, and the young woman. The pregnant woman lay on a cot and the young man sat next to her whilst Austin stood near them.

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He layeth me down in green pastures, and he raiseth me up again. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil.” The pastor preached, then someone pounded on the door and everyone became startled.

Dean moved the opened the peephole and moved what was blocking the door and opened the door up. It was Ellen, and the two of the weird hunters, who were distressed.

“Where’s Sam and the kid?” He asked.

Ellen shook her head and sat down next to the young woman, who passed her a water bottle.

“We were ambushed by people who thought we were demons. We thought they were demons, too.” The older kid spoke up with remorse, with neither of them not retreating to their little corner on the other side of the room. “They grabbed Sammy, and we tried to save him…” He couldn’t finish his sentence.

“He told us to go get help instead.” Rebekah finished, full of remorse.

“They took both of them? Demons took them?” The pregnant woman asked, panicked. “Oh my God. What if they’re in here? The demons?”

“Could they get in?” The pastor asked.

“No.” Dean answered, then he grabbed a shotgun and headed for the door with the older kid and Rebekah expectantly following behind him. “Everybody sit tight. I got to—”

He stopped with his hand on the door knob and looked back, and grimaced. Dean headed back over toward the table, and the two kids followed him. He glanced back at them for a moment. _They’re like freakin’ lost puppies._ He thought.

“Okay, we need to get a plan together. Tell me everything.”

* * *

**(Sam’s POV)**

Jo continued to hold Sam’s head while Rufus poured salt on him.

“Please! Come on!” Sam pleaded.

“—omnis immundus—”

Rufus stopped as nothing was happening, and Jo let go of his hand and picked up the water jug. The kid started to wake up and the younger Winchester noticed his eyes opening but barely moved at all as Rufus and Jo were right in front of them.

“Look! Something’s not right! Do you see that?” Sam tried to reason with them.

Jo splashed Sam in the face, and he spit out a mouthful of water.

“Come on! Stop! Listen to me!”

She blocked his line of sight to the opened door, and when she went to grab something, he saw Roger just outside the door. He turned the right ring on his hand, and Sam looked around and up to see that he was sitting directly under a death’s trap like the kid was.

“Listen!”

Jo and Rufus huddled into the corner.

He noticed the kid slowly lift his head up and the younger hunter noticed him. “Hey, man, how long have you been here?” He whispered. “What did they do to you?”

The kid shook his head. “I don’t remember how long,” the young man whispered back weakly, “but they poured salt, holy water, and tried to exorcise me. What about you?”

Sam nodded. “Same here.” He whispered back. “You okay?”

The kid shook his head again. “I’ll be fine. My siblings should bring us help soon.” He whispered, trying to sound hopeful in his weak voice, but it seemed to fail in his despondent tone. “How about yourself?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, dude. We’ll get out of here alive, okay?” He reassured the young man in a whisper. “My brother’s probably on his way and he’ll be here, too. I know it’s hard, but keep your head up, alright?”

The kid faintly smiled for a moment.

Sam looked over at Jo and Rufus in the corner.

“Look, listen to me, something’s not right!” He called over at them. “If you don’t want to let me go, at least let him go! Can’t you see why what you’re doing isn’t working?”

Rufus looked back over his shoulder at both tied up hunters.

“You can see that. Please. Please. Just listen to me.”

* * *

**(Dean’s POV)**

Dean sat the table with Ellen, the older kid, and Rebekah.

“So one of the Four Horseman is making Jo think we’re demons?” Ellen asked, confirming what the two strange hunters were telling them, who nodded in unison. “They want us to fight each other?”

The older kid shook his head. “Yeah, that’s what the bastard wants us to do. I didn’t remember that detail until I thought I killed a demon—not Jo, I promise you—but the usual effect of the knife didn’t show.” He said remorsefully. “I-I killed a person, I believe.”

Dean looked at him. “Hey, it’s not like you knew that, man.” He reassured the young man, but then asked, “What do you mean ‘usual effect of the knife’? You have a knife that kills demons?”

The two of them nodded in unison.

“That’s right. I’m sure Sammy told your brother about us being from the future, and that he’s named after your brother. I’m named after you, and we carry on the family business forty-seven years from now.” The older kid continued with sincerity in his voice, pulling the knife out of his jeans pocket. “Anyhow, it took us a long time to locate it, but we found your original knife last year.”

If Dean hadn’t known that angels exist, then he would have thought the young man was crazy. That knife looked just like theirs, only with the handle worn out and the edges of the blade itself a bit rusted.

Ellen couldn’t believe it, though, as she hadn’t known the existence of angels yet.

“You can kill demons with _that_?” She asked skeptically. “Angels, really? You won’t give up on avoiding explaining yourselves, will ya?”

The older kid nodded. “It’s true; you ask my namesake here or Sammy’s namesake when we find him” He said, calmly and confidently. “Why else would we know about what happens in the future?”

“What, one of you psychic and you’re covering it up? I don’t buy that story, kid.”

Him and Rebekah were silent, uncomfortable.

“No, we’re telling the truth! We need to find Sam and his namesake, then we’ll explain _everything_. I promise.” Rebekah defended with intense worry in her tone. “I know Sam—the one I came here with—is strong, but I’m worried about what they’re doing to him.”

Dean sighed, glancing at the kid supposedly named after him.

“Anyways, Ellen, do you know why Rufus came to town?” He asked her.

“He said something about water. That’s all I know.” She answered.

“Padré, you know what she's talking about—the water?” Dean said, turning to the pastor, who answered, “The river. Ran polluted all of a sudden.”

“When?” He elaborated.

“Last Wednesday. And the demon thing started up the next day.” Austin answered.

“Anything else? Anything.”

“Maybe, but it’s pretty random.” He went on.

“Good. Random’s good.”

“Shooting star—does that count?” Austin asked him

Dean and Ellen looked at each other while the two time-travelers perked up.

“Real big. Same night. Wednesday.” He continued.

“That definitely counts.” Dean said, then getting up and walked over to the bookshelf, and picked a Bible out of it. He bought it back to the table and searched through it.

“So, uh, you think that all this comes from outer space?” Austin asked him.

“This isn’t _X-Files_ , pal.”

He found the passage he was looking for and read it out loud.

“And there fell a great star from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell upon the river, and the name of the star was Wormwood. And many men died.” He read, and the pastor spoke up, “Revelation eight ten. Are you saying that this is about the apocalypse?”

“You could say. And these specific omens, they’re prelude to what?”

“The Four Horsemen.” The pastor answered.

“And which one rides the red horse?”

“War.” The pastor answered once more.

If Dean weren’t already convinced that the three time-travelers were who the said they were, he would be now. Ellen seemed to be on board with the idea now, at least. How else would they know that, unless one of them had visions?

“That cherry Mustang parked on Main.” He said, glancing over at two of the time-travelers as Ellen nodded. “You can’t think that a car—” The pastor began to question, but Dean interrupted him.

“It’s the way I’d roll. I mean, think about it.” He reasoned out, glancing at the older kid. “It all makes sense. If War is a dude and he’s here, he’s messing with our heads. Just like German Marty McFly here just said.”

“Turning us on each other.” Ellen commented.

“They think we’re demons, we think they’re demons.” The older Winchester continued, then turning to the time-travelers. “What if there are no demons at all and we’re all just killing each other? Is that right?”

“Yeah.” The older kid and Rebekah answered in unison.

“Wait, just back up. It’s the apocalypse?” The pastor asked, taken aback.

“Sorry, Padré.”

The pastor blinked several times.

* * *

**(Sam’s POV)**

Sam and the kid were still alone and tied up in the living room and noticed Roger coming in.

“Who the hell are you?” He demanded.

‘Roger’ took off his glasses, closed the door, moved another chair, and sat down.

“A better question would be _what_ are you?” The young man asked angrily.

“You caught me. Popped into watch.” Whatever it was said. “I can hustle like that.”

“So, the Roger everyone around here knows, the real Roger?” Sam demanded.

“Buried in a ditch.”

Sam rolled his eyes and nodded while the kid wasn’t surprised, like he probably knew about this the whole time. “So, who are you?” He demanded of whatever that was.

“Here’s a hint. I was in Germany. Then in Germany. Then in the Middle East. I was in Darfur when—” It started to explain, but the young man cut it off with a scoff.

“You’re War, I know that. I’d rather not hear about how you used my country for your own entertainment!” He snapped at the Horseman, pleasantly surprising War. 

“Oh, like I care about your feelings, you little infernal thing.” War taunted, chuckling. “You can’t stop thinking the blood dripping off your knife earlier, can you?”

The kid scowled but said nothing.

“There aren’t any demons in town, are there?” Sam asked, taken aback from what the Horseman said about what was on the young man’s mind. It couldn’t be what he suspected it was.

“Nope. Just frightened people ripping each other’s throats out. I really haven’t had to do too much.” War answered, elaborating sadistically. “Take out a bridge here, lay in a little hallucination there, sit back, pop some corn, watch the show. Frankly, you’re really vicious little animals, Sam.”

“No, you’re doing this.” He argued.

“Please. Last week, this was Mayberry.” The Horseman replied. “Now these people are stabbing each other’s children.”

“Cause you made them see demons!”

“Honestly, people don’t need a reason to kill each other.” War replied. “I mean, you seen the Irish? They’re all Irish.”

Sam rolled his eyes.

“You think I’m a monster. I’m jello shots at a party.” War said flippantly, unbothered by Sam’s arguments. “I just remove inhibitions.”

“I’m gonna kill you myself.” He threatened the Horseman.

War laughed. “Oh, that’s adorable, considering you’re my poster boy.” He said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sam demanded.

“Just like the kid here, you can’t stop thinking about it either, ever since you saw it dripping off the blade of that knife.” War said, glancing at the kid who was scowling more with a glare now as the kid’s namesake started breathing hard. “You didn’t notice know that, didn’t you, Sam? That little vermin played you like you’re his own personal fiddle.”

The young man glanced at the older hunter. “I didn’t mean to—it wasn’t my intention; I was gonna tell you when this was all over.” He muttered remorsefully. “Please forgive me.”

“You’re wrong. Leave him out of this.”

“Let’s forget about the brat for now, then. Save your protests for your brother. I can see inside your head. And man, it is one-track city in there. Blood, blood, blood. Lust for power. Same as always. You want to be strong again.” War said, taunting him further. “But not just strong. Stronger than everybody. Good intentions—quick slide to hell, buddy boy. You feel bad now? Wait till you’re thigh deep in warm corpses. Because, my friend, I'm just getting started.”

The Horseman stood up and put his glasses back on.

“Showtime for the meatsuits.” He said. “Watch this.”

He twisted his ring and blood flew down his forehead. He kicked over the chair, dropped to the floor, and screamed. Rufus kicked the door open and Jo was right behind him.

War looked up at them. “They did this!”

“No!” Sam yelled.

“You’re a goddamn liar!” The kid yelled, with his voice naturally louder.

War faked panic and fear, effectively able to fool Rufus and Jo. “Both of them said they’re coming!” He said in faux frantic tone. “Both of them said they’re coming to get us!”

“No, stop! Jo, Rufus, he’s lying! No!”

“Yeah, that son of a bitch is using you as his pawns! Don’t fall for it.”

Sam knew that War had them fooled when Rufus saw them. “Shut your mouths!”

“Please! Jo! He’s lying!”

“He’s playing you both for fools! Can’t either of you fucking see that?”

Rufus backhanded Sam, and then the kid right after.

* * *

**(Dean’s POV)**

Explaining of this had been a pain for Dean and presumably for the two time-travelers as well, given their tired facial expressions. “So now you’re saying that there are no demons and War is a guy.” Austin commented.

“You believed crazy before.” Dean replied.

Someone had hammered on the door.

“Open up! It’s Roger!” The voice on the other end.

The time-travelers had become on the edge upon hearing that voice, and the kid named after Dean had a murderous look on his face. Austin checked the peephole and opened the door.

Roger was breathing hard and looked like he had been running.

looked panicked and his voice was more frantic than earlier. “I saw them, the demons. They know we’re trying to leave.” He said. “They said they’re gonna pick us off one by one.”

The older kid scoffed, standing up. “You’re lying, War. We know who you are, and we know what you’ve been up to.” He said viciously. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t get my knife and cut your right finger off right now!”

“Wait, wait, wait. What?” Dean said, looking over the time-travelers, believing them; they hadn’t been wrong about anything else so far, but maybe their memory had been fuzzy on a few details. “ _That’s_ War?”

More panicked than earlier, ‘Roger’ was more fearful.

“What are you talking about?!”

The older kid and Rebekah nodded. “War’s a manipulator and what better way than to turn us against each other than play the victim?” Rebekah said darkly, glaring the Horseman. “We were informed of who’s meatsuit he’d take over and when he’d come to trick everyone here.”

Everyone else, except for Ellen, weren’t on board at all with the time-travelers claims or believed them about War putting everyone against each other. It was expected that they would be reviled for calling out War, and not believed.

“I thought someone should go out and see what’s going on!” War kept up the act, looking fearful toward the time-travelers. “What’s wrong with those two? None you can seriously believe them, right? They’re crazy!”

“Hold on. Hold on.” Dean said, trying to keep things from escalating.

“No, man, we got people to protect. All right, the able-bodied go hunt some demons.” Austin said angrily, picking up a shotgun and handing it to the young man near him. “Roger’s right, what those two are saying is crazy and can you seriously believe them? They think an angel’s telling them the future and that they’re _from_ the future! It doesn’t get crazier than that.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow your roll. This is not a demon thing.” Dean tried to reason with Austin. “I know it’s crazy, but they’re telling the truth! That’s War, _not_ Roger.”

War held up his right hand and twisted his ring, then pointed to Dean, Ellen, the older kid, and Rebekah. “Look at their eyes! They’re demons!” He said in faux panic.

The pregnant woman gasped, and the pastor raised a shotgun.

“Go, go!” Dean said as him, Ellen, the older kid, and Rebekah turned, and ran.

Austin blasted the shotgun, hitting the door.

“Move!”

* * *

**(Time-travelers’ POV)**

The plan was set, given that Dean and Rebekah brought his namesake and Ellen up to speed on what would likely happen now. They significantly altered the events of what was supposed to happen so far, so there was no telling what would end occurring instead now.

The main priority was rescuing Sam and his namesake, and then, take out War.

Dean and Rebekah told them that War couldn’t be killed and one of them had to use their demon killing knives to slice the ring off his finger. Without that ring, War would be weak, and the town would return to normal.

They _needed_ to save Ellen and Jo.

_“It lives me. You live in me. Malignant.” – Louise Glück_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> German translations:
> 
> 1 “Goddamnit, what are you thinking, Sammy?!”  
> 2 “What did say to his namesake? God, we are screwed now, Dean.”  
> 3 “Maybe, maybe not. Sam always has a good reason for changing plans, and sometimes that works out in our advantage.”  
> 4 “War will be upon us soon.”  
> 5 “We’ll be okay, Rebekah.”  
> 6 “We’d never let anything happen to you.”
> 
> Hope these translations are correct.
> 
> \------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> Updated authors note (2\23\20): I finally fixed a few errors and added two fitting quotes.


	5. Chapter 4 - Going Off Script (pt. 4)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The town is returned to normal after Sam and his namesake are rescued, War is rendered powerless by the loss of his ring, and something tells the boys that won't be seeing the last of the three time-traveler's anytime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note: 
> 
> Finally, the final part. Once more thank you for reading this, leaving kudos, commenting, subscribing, and bookmarking my story. Well, I made a mistake. Ellen and Jo don’t die in this episode, so I’ll write it as a miscalculation in the story, and they have more time to save the Harvelle’s. 
> 
> I hope that I wrote the canon characters correctly, and none of them are OOC. I’m feeling more confident in writing Supernatural characters, especially the boys, so hopefully I didn’t make any mistakes there. This chapter is a bit shorter than the others, so when I have more time and more energy, I should be able figure out how to write the episodes (with alterations) without having to break it into a few parts.
> 
> If I can take up more of your time, I’d been thinking about whether the time-travelers Sam and Dean are different enough from their namesakes. What do you guys think? I believe there’s enough differences that make them their own personalities, instead of being a rip-off of who they were named after? What do you make of him, Dean’s namesake, and Rebekah? Is there anything that I can do to improve their character development if anything sticks out?
> 
> \-------------------------------------
> 
> As for the original statement:
> 
> I have done a lot of research for this story and have been hesitant to post it, for I want to make sure I wrote my German main characters accurately. If I made any mistakes with either portrayal, please let me know and I will fix it. Any constructive criticism is welcome and please let me know what you guys think. I sincerely hope that the portrayals are accurate and are not offensive in any shape or form. If there are any grammar errors, please let me know and I can fix them.  
> 

_“At length from us may find, who overcomes by force, hath overcome, but half his foe.” – John Milton, Paradise Lost  
_

Year: 2009

Location: River Pass, Colorado

Chapter Three

Going Off Script (Pt. 4)

**(Dean’s POV)**

Dean, Ellen, his namesake, and Rebekah were ready to put their plan into action. They waited to grab Jo and Rufus, who presumably had Sam and the kid, outside of one of the houses two of them were grabbed earlier. His namesake and Rebekah watched Jo and Rufus load up shotguns in another room and were to give him and Ellen the cue to grab them. According to the details Cas gave the time-travelers about this, apparently bombs were set up in the house.

The explosion had to be triggered to catch them off guard, and the time-travelers had set it off from distance via gunshot. Dean noticed them come into the living room, readying their guns in the totaled and empty front room.

Rufus peered through the window, giving the older Winchester a chance to grab him through it.

“Rufus!” Jo’s yelled out, then Ellen grabbed her from behind.

Dean hauled up and slammed him against the wall. “Listen to me. I’m not a demon.” He reasoned with the older hunter, noticing Rebekah approaching behind him. “Think, Rufus. All those omens.”

“You go to hell,” he said glancing at the two hunters.

Rufus kicked Dean in the crotch, then hit him in the chest and in the face. The older hunter lunged for his dropped gun, and Dean hauled him back against the wall. Rebekah grabbed Rufus’ gun.

“You got his gun?” He asked, turning around to the girl for a moment.

“Yeah.”

“You’re fast, Rebekah, I wonder what else you can do with that speed?” He complimented suggestively with a wink.

She rolled her eyes as he turned around, facing the older hunter, pushing against Dean’s grip. “Rufus! The polluted water, the shooting star, the red Mustang—it's War.” He tried to reason with the older man. “I’m telling you, it’s War.”

“You’re damn right it is.” Rufus said, then punching Dean in the face, and approaching Rebekah to grab his gun. She aimed her own gun right back at him as Dean tackled him. “The Horseman!” He tried to reason with the man again.

“Horseman?”

“Yes. He’s turning us against each other. You’re hallucinating.” Dean explained as Rebekah aiming her gun at him, keeping it gripped tightly in her hand. He stared up at the two of them, the hostility on his face going away.

“The Horseman. War.”

“Yes.” He confirmed.

Rufus looked to each side.

“Did you figure this out all by yourself, genius?”

* * *

**(Future Dean’s POV)**

The younger, futuristic Dean thought his older brother would at least attempt to land him in the hospital that he let Rebekah go find his namesake for back-up. He knew that she wasn’t made of glass and she had become tough as nails as a hunter in the past year of hunting with them. In assuming that she would stay with him, and not go as his namesakes’ backup convincing Rufus otherwise, he didn’t have time to stop her. He would have gone after her if he weren’t Ellen’s back-up in the house.

Ellen, who tried to reason with Jo, ended up in a brief scuffle with her. He played referee in case things would become bloody, like his brother’s frequent scuffles tended to be, so he knew how to act fast in case it would. Sam, though, would never let Rebekah out of his or one of their siblings’ sight on a hunt. He was far too fearful of her getting killed, and he overly protected her to the point of her feeling smothered. Their dad did the same thing to them when they (and two other siblings back in the present Germany) were kids! Dean remembered how often Sam complained about their father never letting him go on demon hunts when they were younger, or never letting him participate in school science fairs.

Demons killing Sam and his twin’s mother, and then kidnapping and holding his mother hostage years later, made their father paranoid about letting his four kids do about _anything_ normal. As a result, doing just about anything even remotely normal was forbidden. Although he let Sam and twin go on dates occasionally with a classmate in their later teenage years, and Dean himself was never interested in going out with anybody himself.

Outside of that, they were almost always under his or under trusted supervision of an older cousin, his surrogate father, or someone his cousin or surrogate father trusted when they were younger. When they were a bit older, though, they were under Sam or twin’s supervision as their father was never around. In a similar way, Sam was limiting Rebekah in usually never letting her out of line of sight on a hunt, and if she wasn’t in his sight, he made sure he knew where she was. That’s the only way he knew how to keep his former college girlfriend safe because their overly protective and strict father’s way kept him safe growing up.

Dean dreaded Sam’s response to this when they would find him and hoped to God that his older brother wouldn’t assault him for it. His namesake, Rufus, and Rebekah barged in, and he raised his pistol whilst Ellen raised her shotgun.

“Whoa, whoa!” His namesake exclaimed as the two of them lowered their guns.

“We all on the same page?” Ellen asked as Rebekah walked over to his side.

His namesake looked at each other and nodded.

“Good.” Rufus said.

“Hi, Jo.” His namesake said, glancing over at the younger blonde.

“Hey.” She greeted back.

“Okay, we got to find War before everybody in this town kills each—” His namesake started to explain, but that was interrupted by gunshots that seemed to be aimed at the house. Everyone ducked.

“Damn it! Where’s Sam?”

“Where’s my brother and his namesake?”

Dean and his namesake spoke at the same time, then glanced at each other.

“Upstairs.” Rufus answered.

Ellen gave Jo the shotgun. “Take this,” she said.

His namesake rushed in one direction, and he and Rebekah followed behind while Ellen when in another direction. Now that they knew where Sam and his namesake were, then they could take care of War.

Ellen and Jo would be safe, and they wouldn’t die today.

* * *

**(Sam’s POV)**

Sam and the kid were alone, wondering when they would be rescued for God knew how long so far. The door opened and it was Dean, and the two time-travelers. He never seen younger kid never looked more relieved than he was now.

“Dean, it’s like they said. It’s not demons.” He said as the time-travelers rushed toward their brother, a bit bruised and bloodied up, and Sam was starting to worry about the boy. “It’s War,” him and his brother said in unison.

“I just can't figure out how he’s doing it.” Dean said as he cut his brother free at the same time as the time-travelers cut their brother free. “Is the kid okay?” He asked, glancing over at them in concern.

“I’ll have to check his stitches and see. Sammy should be fine outside of that.” The older kid answered, glancing at his brother tensing whilst getting up. “Are you _really_ okay?” Rebekah asked the younger kid.

He shrugged his shoulders. “I’m fine.” The boy answered stoically.

“The ring.” Sam said, remembering an important detail.

“The ring. The ring—that’s right.” His brother remembered. “He turned it right before he made everybody hallucinate and go hellbitch. That’s what my clone here was saying earlier.”

“Right.”

“We got to move. Come on.” Dean said urgently.

* * *

**(Future Sam’s POV)**

Sam felt helpless and pathetic after Dean quickly checked his still intact stitches. He never really had to rely on his younger brother _that_ much as he had to today. The way his and his brother’s namesakes seemed to look at him made him feel like his brother’s young and reckless little brother who needed cared for.

He knew that it wasn’t Dean’s intention to give that impression, but his pride wasn’t immune to the insults (unintentional or not) that he was subject to today. He wasn’t just a little punk, vermin, or a kid. The oldest Winchester brother was being treated like he was younger than even their initial lie intended as.

Being twenty-six and being treated more like a sixteen-year-old felt absolutely humiliating, insulting, and like his previous accomplishments meant nothing. Did they truly see him as a reckless kid who couldn’t be trusted to not get himself hurt? He was aware of Dean and Rebekah’s concern for him, knowing that he immensely worried them today, though obviously not by choice. They weren’t trying to treat him any younger than his age, but it still made him feel small compared to his and Dean’s namesakes.

Shaking off his thoughts, Sam decided that he would show them that he was bigger, better, and stronger than he appeared to be. He wasn’t going to stand by and let anyone else treat him like a frightened puppy any longer.

The oldest Winchester brother, like everyone else, heard bullets nearby. They had to stop this pointless bloodbath, cut the ring off War’s finger, and save Ellen and Jo’s lives. He was merely following behind his namesake, Dean’s namesake, with his brother and Rebekah.

_This violence is senseless and innocent blood’s being shed for only that goddamn Horseman’s entertainment!_ _Not even I’m entertained by violence like that. It’s far too mundane for my tastes. I suppose I should be grateful War doesn’t have everyone kidnapping, torturing, and stabbing each other instead._ He thought angrily and in self-loathing, feeling like a useless spectator. _Who am I think War’s a monster when I’m entertained by others suffering, just like him? I’m just a different breed of monster than him, more entertained by doing the torturing and stabbing myself than watching others doing it to themselves._

Austin exchanged bullets from behind the car, huddled alongside a few others, with another young man in an upper window of the house. The older woman crossed herself and folded her hands whilst the shaggy-haired man hurried along beside a fence. The young man peered around the corner and another man shot at him, who pulled back, keeping the pregnant woman behind him. The shaggy-haired man and the other man exchanged fire.

“People, cease fire!” Rufus called out, behind the other man. “Stop shooting, stop!” The older hunter grabbed the gun from the other man and slammed him in the head with it. “I’m getting too old for this.” He commented, frustrated. The other young man aimed out of the window at the pastor and the young woman, who ran for shelter behind a trailer. The pastor came out and the other young man fired, and the bullet went right through the pastor, who fell.

“Father!” The young woman cried, running out to the pastor, and sobbing.

The other young man fired again, missed, and aimed more carefully. Ellen approached, and pressing something to the pastor’s wound, making the young woman look up.

Sam couldn’t hear her, being a rather bored spectator, but he figured she was trying to calm the woman and help the pastor out. He knew that normal people, including probably most hunters, should be appalled, and bothered by this display of pointless violence, but he wasn’t.

 _I should be ashamed to be named after the hero Sam to not a feeling a fucking thing for these strangers, but I am. Dad thought he could change me, and turn me into a moral person and honorable hunter._ He thought, conflicted and full of shame. _Am I even capable of becoming good, or maybe evil truly is my birthright? Goddamnit, I don’t want to be a monster and I don’t want to be evil!_

* * *

**(Sam and Dean’s POV)**

Finally, War reached his red Mustang, and looked back over his shoulder, and didn’t see them coming. The Horseman reached for the door, and the boys grabbed him. The three time-travelers were right behind them as back-up.

Speaking of War, he laughed.

Dean held onto War and Sam drew out Ruby’s knife.

“Whoa. Okay. That’s a sweet little knife.” The Horseman taunted them, glancing over at the younger kid in the back with amusement. “But come on. You can’t kill war, kiddos. By the way, ask Samuel back there about his blood, you’ll find his answer interesting.”

“Oh, we know.” Dean said confidently, then glancing back at the younger kid in confusion for a moment. Sam slammed War’s right hand against the Mustang, and cut all four of his fingers off, and the ring clinked on the pavement.

* * *

**(Time-travelers’ POV)**

Sam panicked when War told his and Dean’s namesakes to ask about his blood, though he didn’t care for being addressed by the full form of his name. His brother, meanwhile, attentive to his brother’s emotional needs, realized something was wrong. Ellen and Jo weren’t supposed to die today, though, that was a relief on their part. Castiel must’ve got the date wrong, or maybe they gave him the incorrect date based on the stories told to them back when they were kids.

Either way, they needed to get into contact with the future version of the angel and figure out the _correct_ date. Plus, thanks to his slip-up and the improvisation that followed, they had to make sure to contact the present version of Castiel instead of the one from this time-period. He tried to put that worry out of his mind as he needed to tend to calm his older brother’s manic episode, or maybe it was a depressive episode this time.

Sometimes Dean felt like he was older than Sam in a few ways, like his older brother’s self-control and self-discipline were almost non-existent.

Of course, it wasn’t Sam’s fault that his bipolar disorder had worsened in the past few years and refused to take his prescribed Lithium for since leaving college. His older brother would take it for a few years, then suddenly quit taking it for around the same time span, and the circle would repeat since he began attending American high schools.

“Hör mir zu, Sammy, es ist in Ordnung. Es wird dir gut gehen.” **1** He whispered, trying to calm his brother as things began to return to order amongst the other survivors. “Du bist sicher, versprochen. Wir wären nicht hier, wenn du nicht sicher wärst.” **2**

His brother shook his head with an anguished look on his face.

“Du meinst sicher, nicht wegen meines Blutes ermordet zu werden, Dean. Der Krieg sagte es selbst vor meinem Namensvetter, und ich weiß, dass er dafür nicht weniger von mir denken wird. Dein Namensvetter wird mich für nichts Geringeres halten als die Missbildung, denn ich bin, und der vergangene Castiel wird mich nur für einen Gräuel halten, den ich auch bin.” **3** Sam yelled in anguish, getting the attention of Rebekah and their namesakes. “Ich weiß, du versuchst zu helfen, aber du hast keine Ahnung, wie es ist, diese Dunkelheit zu bekämpfen, die in meinem Blutkreislauf fließt und widersteht, das zu werden, was Luzifer von mir will! Er und ich teilen den gleichen Hass auf die Menschheit, und manchmal möchte ich neunzig Prozent der Bevölkerung auslöschen, nur weil die Verurteilung und der Schmerz aufhören!” **4**

Sam and Dean noticed Rebekah them in concern, able to make out some of the German. “Hat Sam sich gerade mit Luzifer verglichen?” **5** Rebekah asked him, noticing her husband go in the opposite direction for privacy.

“Ja, hat er. Ich habe keine Ahnung, wie ich ihm helfen kann.” **6** Dean answered with heavy worry in his tone, noticing Sam’s namesake approach. “Ich bete, Gott kann ihm helfen, wenn nicht seinem Namensvetter.” **7**

Rebekah sighed, and resisted say anything to make the younger of the two futuristic Winchester brothers less hopeful. She’d never been religious in her life, though her biological family was heavily involved with a church for some time until she was around two years old.

 _God is probably either on an extended vacation, or maybe he’s dead for all we know._ She thought skeptically and in disdain, keeping her disbelief to herself. _I doubt he’ll be helping us anytime soon. How does he have faith in a god who probably couldn’t give a lesser shit about us?_

* * *

**(Sam and Dean’s POV)**

The boys could overhear the loud argument between the other pair of brothers from the picnic table they sat at. Sam and Dean could make out only a couple of words (technically names), and those were _Castiel_ and _Lucifer_. It correlated with what War had hinted to them, seemed directly more toward Dean, to ask about the younger kid’s blood.

“What the hell did War mean about asking about the kid’s blood, Sam?” Dean asked his brother and seeing his brother sigh. “What’s wrong with the kid? It can’t mean—”

Sam shook his head. “I’m not sure, Dean. War hinted at it earlier when he revealed himself to us, and it seems like he read our minds, too.” The younger Winchester said as he tensed, merely thinking about it. “I think he has demon blood, that’s what it sounds like.”

Dean glanced over at the two of the time-travelers from a distance.

“The kid named after you has demon blood?” He asked in disbelief, shaking his head. “Seriously, dude? Don’t you think it’s too convenient? We’ll figure out what the kid’s hiding later anyways.”

Sam was silent and pensive as his older brother held up War’s ring.

“So, pit stop at Mount Doom?” Dean said.

He remained silent and more pensive.

“Dean—” He began to speak and try to explain.

“Sam, let’s not.”

“No, listen. This is important. I know you don’t trust me.” Sam insisted.

His older brother looked away.

“Just, now I realize something. I don’t trust me either.”

Dean looked up.

“From the minute I saw that blood, only thought in my head...and I tell myself it’s for the right reasons, my intentions are good, and it, it feels true, you know? But I think, underneath...I just miss the feeling. I know how messed up that sounds, which means I know how messed up I am.” Sam explained himself. “Thing is, the problem’s not the demon blood, not really. I mean, I, what I did, I can’t blame the blood or Ruby or...anything. The problem’s me. How far I’ll go. There’s something in me that...scares the hell out of me, Dean. In the last couple of days, I caught another glimpse...”

“So, what are you saying?” He asked.

“I’m in no shape to be hunting. I need to step back, ‘cause I’m dangerous. Maybe it’s best we just...go our separate ways.” The younger Winchester explained, and Dean seemed to consider it.

“I was expecting a fight.” Sam was surprised at his brother’s response.

“The truth is I spend more time worrying about you than about doing the job right.” Dean explained himself. “And I just, I can’t afford that, you know? Not now.”

The younger Winchester nodded. “I’m sorry, Dean.” He said, apologetically.

“I know you are, Sam.”

He moved to stand up.

“Hey, do you, uh, wanna take the Impala?”

“It’s okay.” Sam stood up, took a few steps back, and turned back, noticing the tall kid not too far off where he was standing, who might’ve been listening to their conversation the whole time. “Take care of yourself, Dean.”

“Yeah, you too, Sammy.”

Sam walked to the Impala and the kid followed behind him with a duffel-bag in his hand, as if that weren’t creepy at all. He grabbed his backpack out of the backseat and looked over at the kid. “Why are you following me, dude?” He questioned and shutting one of the backseat doors of the Impala. “I’d rather be alone. Is there some other danger you need to tell me about?”

The boy looked remorseful as he nodded.

“I’d honor your request if your life weren’t in danger from the minute you go on your own. Hunters will come to attack you and I’m staying with you to make sure you’re safe until you and my brother’s namesake start hunting together again shortly.” The younger hunter explained rather protectively in his adamance. “My brother and Rebekah are staying with yours to make sure things go smoothly on their end. Believe me, I’d respect your privacy if your life weren’t in danger.”

Sam nodded, giving him a sympathetic look, heading toward a pick-up driver nearby. Now that he knew what he did about the boy so far, it made more sense why the kid trusted him and seemed to respect him _that_ much. “Come on, then. Somebody should have room for an extra person wherever we end up at.” He said grateful but honestly needing alone time. “You have money for a motel room somewhere, dude? I need a shower and some sleep.”

The kid’s remorse faded a little bit. “Yeah. Lead the way.” He said with consideration in his tone. “As soon as we both get rooms somewhere, I’ll give you as much privacy as you need, unless your safety is at risk.” This left Sam wondering why he deserved such reverence and kindness from one of his and Dean’s distant, futuristic cousins. Maybe it was true; maybe the boy did have demon blood after all, though he planned to ask tomorrow after getting some rest.

_“Who’s the real you? The person who did something awful, or the one who’s horrified by the awful thing you did? Is one part of you allowed to forgive the other?” – Rebecca Stead_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> German translations: 
> 
> 1 “Listen to me, Sammy, it’s alright. You’ll be fine.”
> 
> 2 “You’re safe, I promise. We wouldn’t be here if you weren’t safe.”
> 
> 3 “You mean safe as in not getting murdered for my blood, Dean. War said it himself in front of my namesake, and I know he won’t think less of me for it. Your namesake will think of me as nothing less than the freak I am and the past Castiel will only think of me as an abomination I also am.”
> 
> 4 “I know you’re trying to help, but you have no goddamn clue what’s like to fight this darkness flowing in my bloodstream and resist becoming what Lucifer wants me to be! Him and I share the same hatred of humanity, and sometimes I want to wipe out ninety-percent of the population just for the condemnation and pain to stop!”
> 
> 5 “Did Sam just compare himself to Lucifer?”
> 
> 6 “Yeah, he did. I have no idea how to help him.”
> 
> 7 “I pray God can help him, if not his namesake.”
> 
> Hope the translations are correct.
> 
> \------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> Updated authors note (2\23\21): I added the two fitting quotes and fixed a typo.


	6. Chapter 5 - Secrets and Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Sam and Dean have gone their separate ways for a few days, both accompanied by one or two time-travelers, they learn more about the future and a few of their secrets slip. The time-travelers named after them, now called D and Samuel, alongside the ever attractive and mysterious Rebekah, tell them things that the boys now wish they didn’t know about the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note: 
> 
> Here it is, episode three. My apologies that it’s taken this long to brainstorm some ideas amongst having a lot of online coursework on my plate now. I want to thank all of you who have read my story, left kudos on it, left comments, bookmarked it, and subscribed, it’s greatly motivating and encouraging. 
> 
> I just wish that I had more time to write and post updates more frequently.  
> Once more, the chapter will be broken into different parts if things go as planned for in my ADHD-ridden mind. This chapter was difficult to brainstorm for with coursework and studying amongst a few other things going on now.
> 
> I struggled with coming up with what to call the time-travelers’ Sam and Dean in my spare time lately without deviating too far from their birth names, so I decided to call the time-traveler Sam by the full form of Samuel and the time-traveler Dean by the letter D. I can thank my love of Death Note for coming up with that.
> 
> Anyways, since there are different locations, and I switched up the POVs, it’ll somehow make sense. If not, please let me know and I will fix that. They will be called that in the authors notes here on out, and in their own POVs to make this as least confusing as possible. I hope that any of the previous chapters haven’t been confusing. The full, director’s edit music video for 30 Seconds to Mars’ song, “Hurricane” served a major motivation and inspiration for this, and Persona 5 Royal, as well.
> 
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> As for the original statement:
> 
> I have done a lot of research for this story and have been hesitant to post it, for I want to make sure I wrote my German main characters accurately. If I made any mistakes with either portrayal, please let me know and I will fix it. Any constructive criticism is welcome and please let me know what you guys think. I sincerely hope that the portrayals are accurate and are not offensive in any shape or form. If there are any grammar errors, please let me know and I can fix them.

_“If we meet each other in Hell, it’s not Hell.” – Geoffrey Hill_

Year: 2009

Location: Garber, Oklahoma

Timeline: August 15, 2009 – August 17, 2009

Pre-episode 3, season 5: One week before Sam’s attacked

Chapter Five

Secrets and Lies

**(Sam’s POV)**

_ Day one  _

Sam had gone his separate ways with Dean a week ago, and both were accompanied by at least one of the three time-travelers. He assumed that his older brother resumed hunting while he tried to settle himself into a normal life and had plenty of questions for the time-traveler named after him, who had been on vague on a few questions.

Though, he had nothing to call the boy, and he didn’t want to call him ‘kid,’ like Dean and Ellen kept referring to him as. They shared the same preferred nickname, so it would too confusing that way.

Unfortunately, the name Samuel didn’t have a lot of different nickname options, so the younger kid suggested either the full form of his first name or the middle name he couldn’t stand more, which was Henry. Out of the two options, the boy chose to be called Samuel, unless they had to hide their identities.

Aside from that, he buried his fake IDs and got a job as a bartender at a local bar, and Samuel got a job as a janitor under his middle name. They stayed in separate rooms at a local motel, and to true to his word, the younger hunter gave him as much privacy he needed.

What danger was Sam in anyhow?

Samuel explained in detail that a couple of hunters would know about Lucifer’s release, and would come to the bar to force-feed him demon blood soon. The kid wasn’t sure exactly which day, but it would be a week from when they arrived in Garber, Oklahoma.

The younger Winchester couldn’t hold his question off about what War had suggested to him and older brother any longer and asked the boy about it. Samuel immediately tensed and hesitated, before giving another shocking admission.

“Yeah, what the bastard implied is true, though it’s not like he would know about my twin.” The hunter admitted with a sigh, then hesitated once more with more tension in his tone. “When my twin, Emma, and I were six months old, the resurrected son of a bitch Azazel killed our mother and fed us both his blood to re-release Lucifer one day.”

Shocked and taken aback by such an admission, and though he wanted to know more about the apparently bleak future, Sam knew better than to push the kid for more information. He didn’t ask Samuel anymore questions that evening, who wouldn’t offer up a nearly as much detailed answer on his other questions during the first week.

He would know; what the boy was telling him must have been painful and difficult, and Samuel mostly kept to himself after that initial admission. Sam noticed a few quicks about the kid but didn’t mention it to the younger-looking hunter, who admitted that he was really twenty-six.

Sam learned that Samuel was bipolar on the same day upon arriving and that the kid took prescribed Lithium, but he would be out the next day. He asked the time-traveler what dosage he took and wondered if this was what it was like to have a younger brother.

The time-traveler assured him that he’d find a dealer around to illegally buy it until he could obtain false paperwork to get it from a doctor in the present. He was getting more concerned about the kid with every piece of unpleasant information he learned about Samuel, or surprising ones, like Rebekah wasn’t his sister.

Yeah, Rebekah was his wife that he met in college and if they went with that cover, Samuel would be accused of being a manipulative, controlling, or verbally abusive husband. The kid apologized for not telling him sooner and said that he waited for the safest time to admit it.

Little things set the boy off, like people continuously calling him a ‘kid,’ and a ‘boy,’ and even the slightest implication that he had a big ego angered him. It _was_ true that the kid had a seriously overly inflated ego and seemed to act like he was more important than he was, irritating the other employees and customers.

The younger Winchester figured that the boy didn’t even realize how pretentious he was acting. He was already having difficult time trying to get Samuel to relax after having to tell him to tone his ego down a few times, the boy became more skittish around him when they were alone.

The boy was especially tense and nervous, like he was afraid of doing something wrong or maybe saying the wrong thing around him. It didn’t explain why the kid was the most skittish toward him whenever Sam had more questions, especially since telling him to tone his attitude down.

It surprising didn’t anger him, nor elicit any sort of hostile reaction when Sam himself told the kid to knock it off. He recalled when the younger-looking hunter meekly followed the older-looking hunter back in Colorado, so the kid must have valued his opinion.

 _He’s hiding something! What is he so afraid of me finding out? I already know about the demon blood, so what else is there? I’m sick of the damn secrets._ He thought a bit worriedly and frustratingly, starting to feel like the boy’s older brother more than anything, despite being the same age. _Is this how Dean felt when I was…?_ He cut his thoughts off.

Though the younger Winchester noticed that Samuel had acted entirely toward him, the opposite of everyone else they encountered in Oklahoma. About everyone else, except for their manager at the bar, were recipients of his snobbish personality. He was overly respectful, considerate, and kind toward Sam, and seemed overly protective as well. It’s like the kid was afraid something would happen to him and clung to him, for perhaps comfort or to ease his own worry, despite his skittishness.

Year: 2009

Location: Greeley, Pennsylvania

**(Dean’s POV)**

_ Day one  _

Dean had resumed hunting, though with the help of the older kid and Rebekah. When he didn’t notice the younger, but taller kid with them, they explained the danger his brother would be in. At first, he was angry at them not telling him sooner, because he’d never leave Sam alone if he knew something would happen.

“That’s what Rebekah and I suggested, but Sammy said that he wanted to talk to your brother _alone_ about something, then they’d return to find you if his namesake wanted to.” The boy named after him explained remorsefully. “I assume Sammy must’ve already told him, and your brother would already be on his way along with mine.”

Now, what was the kid telling his brother that he couldn’t convince Sam to stay with him, instead going off God knows where to do it? Could it have been related to that short monologue defending Sam back in Colorado?

“Tell me everything else. I’m not dealing with more secrets.” He snapped at them.

“Okay. The reason we hesitated because Sam and Dean—the ones I came here with—were concerned that if we admitted to everything out in the open, then demons and most angels would hear us.” Rebekah explained with remorse in her tone. “I’m actually Sam’s— _my_ Sam’s wife, not his sister. It’s easier to say that I’m their sister because he treats more like a sibling while on cases.”

Dean raised his eyebrow. “How’d you meet him then?” He asked.

Rebekah let a smile slip. “We met in law school three years ago. Stanford, to be exact. I got my pre-law degree at in the university’s pre-law program and Sam got his over at Wichita State before moving out to California.” She said fondly, taking the older Winchester aback. “He told me that he wanted to become a public defender to improve his namesake’s image and I wanted to become a prosecutor.”

The older hunter would’ve chuckled at the irony, but the kid being a law school nerd aside, how does his college girlfriend get involved in all of this. Unless it involved…

“Did something happen involving demons get you involved?”

The girl tensed, indicating her tension. “It’s a long story.” She said.

“I have the time, so just freaking tell me already!”

Dean’s namesake and her sighed as he began telling them snippets of his childhood, including brief explanations. Their father, Klaus Winchester, was one of the twins born to their father’s younger brother, Dan, thus making them distant cousins of Sam and Dean.

The tragedy of the futuristic Winchester’s childhood was immediate, and things took a dark turn rather quickly. Klaus had been raised a hunter, along with his brother, as hunters, and moved to Petoskey, Michigan, for college. He met a young woman; whose name was Fiona. A few years later, his older twin siblings Samuel and Emma, were born in Frankfurt, Germany. Six months later, in Frankfurt, tragedy struck when Fiona died bloody in flames on the ceiling in the twins’ nursery.

Yellow sulfur was found in the remains of their house in Frankfurt, where rumors of the incident would eventually arrive in America, courtesy of German-born hunters investigating strange demon sighting there. Naturally, American hunters became suspicious and paranoid of another Apocalypse eventually emerging. Klaus discovered both the twins were fed demon blood a few years later after Dean’s namesake and Danny were born to his American-born wife in Berlin, Germany. He remarried a woman, a tourist visiting distant family in Frankfurt, named Hanna Brantley.

She struggled with sleep apnea, postpartum depression, and had chronic health problems. As a result, Klaus (who already wasn’t around much) had picked up a second job to help pay the bills since she couldn’t work and left the kids either with his parents when they were small. Although the family wasn’t hunting, young Samuel was already caring for his younger siblings when he started primary school at grade 6 at a local Montessori school. Klaus and Hanna were seldom around, and aside from the retired hunter grandparents, Samuel was the only consistent family member they could rely on.

Peace wouldn’t remain when seven years later, when the twins were seven, Dean’s namesake was five, and Danny was three. Specifically, on the twins’ birthday, Azazel attempted to take Samuel and Emma once more, who had no idea of the supernatural, what he did to them, or how their mother actually died. Though Dean’s namesake was only five at the time, nor was he in the room, he knew what transpired based on his older brother’s first-hand account. Emma ran out of the room before Azazel could catch her, and the yellow-eyed demon grabbed Samuel’s shoulder to keep him from running, too.

He called out for help and when Hanna came to her terrified son’s rescue, Azazel set the house ablaze, flaming rising between inside and outside of Samuel’s room. Little Danny were being carried out of the house by Klaus as he held Emma’s and Dean’s hands, then told them to go to one of the neighbors and ask them to call for the emergency services.

Meanwhile Dean’s namesake recalled that after doing what Klaus told them to, that the medics took the three of them to their father and brother. Neither suffered any physical injuries, and Samuel was too shaken up to speak. Upon asking where their mother was, Klaus was silent and gently explained that he didn’t know, that she must have been taken from the fire.

Not long after this, Klaus was a changed man, and not in a good way. Ever since that day, he was just a shell. He was already a strict parent who would occasionally let punishment slide if one of the kids were upset, but he became overly protective and severely more restrictive in his parenting. His obsession with finding Azazel gradually consumed him more and more, to the point that Samuel was the only parent his younger siblings had, and more drastic parenting decisions were made. He didn’t always notice when the results of his ‘drastic parenting decisions’ unless it ended up with him needing to apologize to one of the kids.

In short, Klaus followed in the footsteps of his uncle, John Winchester.

The family moved to America when the twins were ten, Dean’s namesake was eight, and Danny was six, where the older three had their initial training. Until then, they stayed in Berlin and in one place.

After moving to America, they stayed with Kyle Winchester, an older cousin, part-time hunter who ran an auto shop, and their father’s best friend, in Kansas City, Kansas for a while. Sometimes they stayed with a family friend, Steven Archer, who was a hunter who lived about an hour away in Lawrence, Kansas, who had been chosen as the kids’ godfather.

He started taking his older three on hunts precisely starting at age nine, with the ghost cases. Samuel started going on vampire cases at age twelve, werewolf cases at age thirteen, and eventually demon cases at age fifteen. Emma and Dean’s namesake started around the same pace as Samuel, though he tried to protect Danny by not taking him on hunts when he was young.

Injuries were going to happen, of course, and some would be visible.

Child Protective Services and its’ German equivalent, _Jugendamt_ , had suspected him of neglecting and psychologically abusing his kids for years. Eventually CPS thought he was physically abusing them, too, as the years of hunting came without stop, even as scars became old and new ones appeared. Mostly, they moved from one motel to another, and it was the same for school. Klaus relied upon credit card fraud and hustling pool, poker, and darts in bars for money. Sometimes he didn’t give his kids enough money to survive on as he was frequently out, leaving Samuel or Emma in charge of their siblings.

Aside from the brief details of a traumatic and violent childhood, Dean’s namesake had mentioned that their father seemed to favor Samuel out of all them. In little ways, Klaus never punished Samuel for when he’d occasionally disobey direct orders, and even let him make suggestions on how to handle certain cases. All four of the kids could ask questions most of the time, but at times when he was incredibly angry, questions were forbidden to be asked. Samuel, though, disobeyed this rule often, and asked questions anyway, and received no punishment for it.

If any of the other three disobeyed direct orders and asked questions when it was forbidden to do so, they would be punished. There were strict punishments, within reason, for every rule broken, and Samuel could break only a couple of those rules. There were always rules in place, even while Klaus was away, and even Samuel didn’t test his limits further than he already did. The four kids called him ‘Dad,’ but when it came down to orders, it was ‘yes, sir,’ or ‘no, sir.’

The communication between Klaus and Samuel had become scarce when the then-eighteen-year-old decided to go to college and studied pre-law at Wichita State to better his namesakes’ image. They didn’t have a fight at all, it was actually Klaus who encouraged Samuel to go out and live the life he wanted. D took a job offer to work for one of his father’s friends at an auto shop in Petoskey, Michigan, and hunted locally there with his new manager, whom he allow lived with by the time he turned eighteen. Previously he’d lived and worked with Kyle at his auto shop in Kansas City in remaining high school years.

By the time Danny graduated from high school, he moved out to California and stayed with Samuel, who was accepted into Stanford for law school. Neither of the two boys could afford an apartment, and Samuel couldn’t afford to live in the university’s dorms, so they lived in a motel nearby. That’s where the younger-looking boy met Rebekah, moved in with her after two years of dating, and fell in love with her close to when her life was nearly taken last year. She became a part of the family, and her own birth family had disowned her for marrying Samuel.

Emma had begun drinking demon blood and became estranged from Klaus and went off the radar for a few years when she started using her powers. A couple of years later when Samuel and Rebekah were in their second year of law school, she moved out to California, and stayed in a motel room next door to Danny’s. Sadly, she still drank demon blood and used her powers regularly, and still estranged from their father.

Dean noticed in the details that John’s brother emulated about every aspect of his parenting on those four kids and driven by a similar obsession. His namesake tensed at the mention of ‘drastic parenting decisions,’ even more after those decisions required Klaus to apologize for whatever he did to his kids.

What the hell did this man do to his kids?

It was like a reverse of his and Sam’s childhood, but more traumatic in some respects. John and Dean tried to protect Sam from knowing about monsters, but Klaus didn’t seem to try at all. At least he didn’t disown his oldest son for going to college, but it sounded like he didn’t help his three kids in California at all, given that they were living out of a motel.

It was outrageous, even John would frown on starting the training as young as seven! Dean’s father was no saint but taking a twelve-year-old to hunt vampires was something John _never_ did. Klaus seemed to want to start his older three kids into hunting as early as possible, though Dean could see why. The guy lost two wives, even if the second one was still alive, and the yellow-eyed bastard tried to kidnap his demon blood-infected twins _twice_. He knew there was more to the story, but he was taken entirely aback by this admission.

“I’ll give you time to process everything so far. There’s more, but it’s a lot.” His namesake answered with a sigh. “There’s some things only Sammy would be able to tell you that I’m in no position to speak of. No offense intended, but I’m positive that he only wants his namesake to know and will figure out how he’ll tell you. It must be important for him if he only wants your brother know right now.”

Dean had his suspicions on what those things would be.

“Yeah. Call your brother and get him to get mine here.” He demanded furiously, despite his suspicion about why the boy named his brother wanted to go alone with him. “I don’t care that the kid needs alone time with Sam. He doesn’t know he put my brother in danger, does he?”

His namesake and Rebekah sighed.

“No, he doesn’t believe he did. He believes himself capable of protecting your brother, and to be fair, he protected me and Danny throughout out childhood.” The older boy defended, though sympathetic in his tone. “He protected Rebekah at Stanford, so I believe that he’s more than capable. I tried to tell him that we should inform you first, though, but I’m sure you know by now that he’s stubborn.”

Dean scowled. “Well, that kid’s ego could get Sam killed!” He argued. “Call him.”

His namesake paused and hesitated to speak for a moment.

“We don’t have phones from this time-period.” He said remorsefully.

The older Winchester hit the motel wall. “Son of a bitch!” He yelled. “Can’t you track his phone with yours?! Seriously, how freakin’ far in the future are you from?!”

“2056.”

“That’s just peachy.” He said sarcastically, his anger rising in his tone, turning toward the futuristic hunters. “We’ll find Sam and the kid, then I’ll make sure he doesn’t pull shit like this again! I bet they’re talking about demon blood, aren’t they?”

The time-travelers froze but didn’t say anything.

**(Sam’s POV)**

_ Day two  _

Whenever they weren’t in their respective motel rooms, Samuel watched him out of the corner of his eye with visible worry, like somebody would come in any second to kill his namesake without warning. Something was seriously scaring the kid, outside of what he already told the older-looking hunter, and he would find out one way or another.

Sam especially noticed this when they went to a small department store to get Samuel a burner phone, since he didn’t own a phone from the present-time. There was no way the kid could’ve had enough money after paying for his room at the motel, given that Samuel barley had enough cash for his motel room. 

He knew that the boy applied for a job to tutor high school students struggling in math and science students, but he wouldn’t get the job _that_ soon. It was likely that he was getting money from a dishonest source, which may have made him feel ashamed, despite living normally as possible for the moment.

He soon learned that kid was quiet around him but soon started talking to him more the next day. Now, when he wasn’t engaging in light conversation with Sam, it was either the boy might’ve had something on his mind that he wouldn’t talk about or he could’ve been hiding something.

“I’ve been going to a few different bars close to here and, uh,” Samuel answered somewhat anxiously, “hustled poker and pool, and some darts, too. I alternate between bars, and, um, I know that I said I’d be making an honest living while we’re here, but I need money.”

Sam raised his eyebrow. “For _what_ , man? We have food and everything else we need.” He asked skeptically, though concerned for the kid. “What the hell are you trying to hide, Samuel?”

The kid shuffled; it was seriously like having a younger brother right now.

“I need to buy weed.” The boy said quickly, visibly anxious. “Smoking weed calms my nerves, and it’s more expensive here, and I also ran out of DMT and shrooms.”

Sam sighed. “What didn’t you say something? Dude, I don’t have anything against you smoking weed, or taking psychedelics.” He exclaimed, wondering why Samuel was keeping this to himself for these first couple of days after arriving in Oklahoma. “I tried weed in college once. It’s no big deal, man.”

The boy sighed, clearly remorseful. “I’m not purposely trying to hide things from you. I didn’t want you to think I’m mentally incompetent for needing them.” He said, meeting the younger Winchester’s eyes with shame. “I promise, no more secrets, as my brother occasionally says to brighten serious moment, no chick flick moments.”

Sam laughed quietly. “My brother says the same thing.” He commented.

**(Dean’s POV)**

Year: 2009

Location: Woodstock, Illinois 

_ Day two _

It had been tense for past few days trying to locate Sam and the kid, and though Dean had a feeling he was right about what the boy wanted to tell his brother, it didn’t diminish his anger. Why did the kid want to hide it from him in the first place? He was so goddamn sick of secrets, and he hoped the boy didn’t have any more he was planning to keep from them.

Cas wasn’t answering any of his prayers and it was pissing him off.

In this time of searching, taking cases in the meantime, he learned more about the future. He got to know his namesake a bit better, who seriously looked older than twenty-four, which he said he was. He got to know Rebekah a bit more, who was the same age as her husband, though he wouldn’t mention that he hit on her once to Sam’s namesake.

He started calling his namesake by the single letter, _D_ , as the kid suggested.

It was later that evening that Dean received a call from an unfamiliar number, and relief flooded over him when he heard the voice he’d been waiting to hear from. It was his brother, who he was worried would never call after their last meeting.

“Dean, hey, I—”

“Sammy, where the hell are you? Did the kid tell you anything about what’s going on?”

“Yeah, Samuel told me all of it, the call from Bobby about a demon crisis, and the attack…Next week.”

Apparently, the kid was being by the full form of his first name now.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I don’t care if it’s next week or a month from now, if you’re in danger and you know it, you tell me, Goddamnit! Did you know Samuel planned to tell you something he doesn’t want me to hear?”

“Dean—I know I should’ve called and told, and as far as what Samuel wanted me to know, it’s not relevant now.”

“I don’t care! Either tell me what it is or put him on.”

A few moments of awkward silence passed until a nervous German accent spoke.

“Um…I have no excuse. I was acting out of desperation—”

“You put Sam in danger, and you could be Lucifer for all I know! Are you?”

“No, I’d never consent to being Lucifer’s meatsuit, and nor would I intentionally put my namesake in danger. I couldn’t tell him right away because w…we were in public, and I…I’m terribly sorry for this misunderstanding.”

“Bullshit! That wasn’t a misunderstanding. You wanted to get Sam alone for a reason, so what was it? I swear, you better tell me the damn truth this time, or I’ll kick your ass down to hell if I have to!”

“I…I don’t have impure intentions, and this was exactly what I’ve been trying to avoid...Your condemnation and judgment, and your wrath, I deserve right now. I wanted to tell my namesake t-that I know what he’s going through.”

“What are you talking about, Samuel?”

“I trust that my brother told you about Azazel tearing my family apart?”

“Yeah, he did, man. What’s that got to with what you told Sammy?”

“Lucifer has been released from the Cage again in my time-period, and it’s all because of me. I was trying to prevent that son of bitch’s rising with my siblings and Rebekah, but…I ended up releasing him instead, like the demons had baited me into…The final seal was Lilith assuming the identity of another demon, who tried to take Rebekah’s life, and I killed her without considering the possibility.”

“Who broke the first seal?”

“My younger brother with you right now. From what he told me, our dad died on a hunt a couple of years ago, and Dean sold his to bring him back. I had no idea that my dad died in the first place, and by the time I found out, my brother was given two years…When I found out that he’d already been…He was already back. Nobody had to sell their souls because the Archangel Michael brought him back a days later, and my family meant well…But they left me not knowing a fucking thing! Not even my twin, Emma, or youngest brother, Danny knew.”

“Only your dad and brother knew?”

“Of course. Not even our cousin Kyle, or our godfather, Steven. It happened when I was in my first year at Stanford, after getting my pre-law degree in Wichita State. My brother there with you usually hunted locally in Petoskey, Michigan, and worked part time at one of dad’s friend’s auto shop there after finishing secondary school. Sometimes he’d hunt with Dad.”

“Put Sam back on, and you two can explain everything else in person.”

A more tense and sorrowing silence passed for a few moments.

“Dean?”

“Sammy, grab Samuel and get to Woodstock, Illinois. I’ll text you the address.”

“Alright.”

Dean hung up the phone and he felt like drinking until he’d pass out. All this Apocalypse business couldn’t get more complicated than it was right now, and he prayed in his mind for Cas. He needed to see the angel, and to see the face of the trench-coat wearing Cas who would give him to relief he needed _badly_. He had an inkling that either Samuel was possessed by Lucifer, or the kid was keeping more secrets. Either way, when Cas would answer of his prayers, he could probably tell if Lucifer was using the boy as his meatsuit.

_“We pull our boots on with both hands, but we can’t punch ourselves awake and all I can do is stand and say sorry about the blood in your mouth. I wish it was mine.” – Richard Siken_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note: 
> 
> The original chapter title was “Sins To be Tortured For,” and I realized that it seems unfitting for this chapter. Samuel’s secret he tells his namesake but tries to keep from it his namesake’s brother out of fear in the meantime. 
> 
> I hope the boys aren't OOC, and I wrote their characters accurately.
> 
> Update: Finally, I fixed this chapter.
> 
> \------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> Updated authors note (2\24\21): I added the fitting quotes.


	7. Chapter 6 - My Own Worst Enemy (Pt. 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just because Sam’s no longer alone in his anguish, it doesn’t mean any of it is less painful than it is. He and Samuel meet with Dean and the other two time-travelers, whom the latter hunter purposes a plan to use himself as bait in Sam’s place when the hunters came for the younger Winchester to prove himself trustworthy to Dean.
> 
> Meanwhile Dean and present Cas are searching for Raphael. The older Winchester pushes back his feelings for the angel and tries to just focus on the case, so finally, here’s some more Destiel and I included a Sam POV on it, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for episode three!
> 
> I wanted to try something to make the alternating POVs more organized and I thought that it might be a good idea to try flashbacks in between. Those will be in italic text, and I hope that it does make more sense than the way the past few chapters’ POVs have been alternated between. 
> 
> For anybody who has read the original Progenitor King, does anyone notice any differences in Samuel’s character? Is he a bit more likeable than in the previous, or seem any less apathetic than before?  
> Also, in the original story, D was originally born female, gender dysmorphic, and going through transitioning. I decided to alter that amongst other details and let D have been born male. I, myself, am not gender dysmorphic, or transgender. 
> 
> I worried while writing the original that I could’ve been writing an inaccurate portrayal of what that experience is like, and that the information I read had been fully factual. I’ll update the original statement below in the other five parts of the story as well.
> 
> Sorry this is another episode broken into parts, but I won’t make it as long as the last one was. It’s been insanely busy lately, so I’ll try to get the next update on soon!  
> The title is inspired “My Own Worst Enemy” by Robert Pettersson, ft Helena Josefsson.
> 
> As for the original statement:
> 
> I have done a lot of research for this story and have been hesitant to post it, for I want to make sure I wrote my German main characters accurately. If I made any mistakes with either portrayal, please let me know and I will fix it. Any constructive criticism is welcome and please let me know what you guys think. I sincerely hope that the portrayals are accurate and are not offensive in any shape or form. If there are any grammar errors, please let me know and I can fix them.

_“You said, though your own heart condemn you, I do not condemn you.” – Franz Wright_

Year: 2009

Full timeline: August 22 – August 25, 2009

Timeline for this chapter: August 22-23 

Chapter Six

My Own Worst Enemy (Pt. 1)

**(Sam’s POV)**

Past

August 18

_Thinking back to a week earlier when Sam and Samuel grabbed their bags and drove toward the motel address Dean texted him in a car he jacked, he noticed that the kid was much quieter than usual._

_It made sense now, but a few days earlier, Samuel seemed focused on writing down what looked like bullet points on his notepad he took from the motel. Unfortunately, Sam didn’t know any German, so he couldn’t understand it when he glanced over at the boy next to him in the stolen car._

_“Samuel, are you okay?” He asked the kid, concerned._

_The younger-looking hunter nodded. “I’m fine.” He answered._

_“Are you **sure**? Dude, you’ve spaced out and your writing’s in German.”_

_The boy sighed, looking at his namesake intently._

_“I breached your brother’s trust, although it wasn’t my intention. I must prove that he can trust me. When you call Bobby Singer about a demon crisis in Oklahoma, and you tell him you’re out,” Samuel explained decisively with determination in his tone, “if the life of that hunter can’t be spared, and the other two come for you, they’ll find me in your place. If my plan would work, you and your brother would be able to save the civilian Lindsay they hold at gunpoint to get you to drink the blood they have.”_

_Sam blinked, taken aback by such as a dangerous plan, all just to get Dean’s trust._

_If the younger Winchester remembered correctly, the two hunters would force-feed him demon blood, and the boy was a recovering blood addict. This plan of Samuel’s was a recipe for disaster, and by the tell of his voice, convincing him out of it would be impossible._

_“It’s too dangerous and you said you’ve been clean for a year, man! You can prove yourself to Dean in a safer way, and one that won’t end you up detoxing in Bobby’s panic room!” He reasoned out logically. “Just listen to—”_

_The time-traveler interrupted him._

_“They won’t know who I am, or what I did in the future.” He said stubbornly, a trait expected of a Winchester, past, present, or future. “I could be just be a German immigrant staying here on a temporary work visa for all they know.”_

_He sighed._

_“Have you told your brother and Rebekah about your plan yet?”_

_Samuel shook his head. “No, of course not. I plan to tell them and your brother the plan in person, and I know they’ll try to convince me out of it, like you are.” He said, clearly peeved and getting loud, and angry. “I don’t need anybody’s goddamn permission to do what I need to, nor should I have to tell you how important this is!”_

_“I get what you’re saying, dude, and I’d do the same thing if I were in your position.” Sam said, realizing how desperate the kid was to have his brother’s trust, and truly, he was also desperate for it. “Dean doesn’t trust me either right now. Are you worried about him hunting you?”_

_Glancing back at the kid for a moment, he noticed the fear on the boy’s face._

_“Hey, Samuel, listen to me—you don’t have to worry about Dean hunting you. If he won’t hunt me, then he won’t harm you either.” He assured the younger-looking hunter. “You’re safe, I promise.”_

_Samuel was silent for a moment._

_“I could be Lucifer for all anybody knows, like my brother’s namesake suggested. He has a valid point, and all the information we’ve informed you both of so far could be all a lie to get you to say yes to Lucifer.” He said despondently, with a look of anguish on his face. “I could be betraying my brother and Rebekah and hiding that I said yes to the Lucifer in the future. I could’ve let him possess me before I came here, and you could be just talking to Lucifer instead of me. Why would you take that risk by trusting me?”_

_Sam wasn’t stupid, he knew that there would a chance him and Dean were being used by Lucifer (or Michael), yet he sensed something **real** about them. Even now, would one of the archangels give away their entire plan to him just now, like Samuel used it as an example just now?_

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: Greeley, Pennsylvania

Timeline: August 22

**(Dean’s POV)**

Dean wasn’t a fan of Samuel’s plan to use himself as bait for the two hunters seeking to harm Sam. Honestly, he never that plan coming from the kid, or that even past Cas cleared him as _not_ Lucifer. Part of the older Winchester was somewhat skeptical that the time-travelers weren’t who they said they were, and both Cas’s confirmed that they were telling the truth. Oh, God, it pained to him to see how worn out and tired future Cas was, and he would be too if he learned that the Apocalypse plan was rebooted.

Everything that Dean and Sam have been through so far happened all over again in the future, including enemies like Azazel and Lilith coming back to life. Long after they disappeared, D and Samuel were paying for what him and Sam likely didn’t do. Neither of the modern Winchester brothers would say yes for either archangel to use their bodies as their meatsuits, and probably that’s what ended up happening. Maybe two poor people were tricked into being archangel meatsuits, and now, the futuristic Winchester brothers were used in their places to get the result they’d wanted later.

There had been more things that would transpire around the same time as the demon crisis in Oklahoma. Present Cas would ask him to help him find God and the only other being who could help them was Raphael, who had killed him before being restored to life. Even if he still had room for doubt, present Cas confirmed that fact and they would need to look. How would they do that when Samuel was hellbent on going forward with his plan? It’s not that Dean didn’t trust him; he knew the kid’s goal was to protect Sam, but the kid was a recovering blood junkie!

Either way, Rebekah was with Samuel there and D was helping Sam save that other hunter in hopefully enough time. Dean was finishing up a vampire hunt in Pennsylvania, while he worried about Sam in Oklahoma. Okay, and the boy was starting to grow on him a little bit, too.

Maybe it was because Samuel reminded Dean so much of his brother.

He had never met anyone else as protective as he was of his younger brother, and Sam _did_ tell him that Samuel hovered over him whenever they were in public. Also, his brother was the only person at that town who _wasn’t_ the recipient of Samuel’s snobbish attitude and spoken to him like Sam was his superior. Dean’s own namesake was protective of him and Sam, but not like Samuel was toward Sam. The kid gravitated toward his brother, especially when he was around. Seriously, did Samuel really think that the older Winchester would harm him?

It seemed so in their most recent interactions as he was skittish around Dean, and not nearly as skittish with Sam, who had a few days alone with him. It was like the boy was afraid of him, or maybe felt safer around his brother who was on the same boat as far as the Lucifer situation went. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about all of that, and everything was set in place. To give that illusion that nothing was going on before Steve would die on that demon case, Sam and the boy were working in the bar that evening, after giving the excuse that they had to leave for a family emergency.

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: Woodstock, Illinois

Timeline: Past – August 19

**(Sam’s POV)**

_When Sam and Samuel arrived at the motel room in Woodstock, the older looking-hunter noticed the younger-looking one quietly holding his notebook. The kid was writing down God knows how many things in that small notebook, and it looked like he was checking for any errors._

_They were informed that present Cas was there, and the other two time-travelers had no luck with future Cas, who hadn’t shown up yet. They weren’t lying as present angel sensed the future one a few times since the time-travelers arrived._

_Now, the present Winchester brothers, three time-travelers, and one angel from the present were in that small motel room. Dean and Cas were eye-fucking each other as usual when everyone, besides Cas, sat down on the old and uncomfortable furniture._

_Speaking of the angel, future Cas came in the room and Sam noticed Dean light up with relief. Future Cas looked stressed out when he came in the room, yet when he noticed Dean, he smiled faintly._

_Why couldn’t they just talk instead of mentally undressing each other?_

_That smile on the future angel faded when the silent atmosphere of the room became uncomfortable. No one else said a word or did a thing besides Dean and present Cas checking each other out as usual._

_“How much have you told them of the future so far?” Future Cas asked, turning to the time-travelers, as he seemed more accustomed to humanity than his present-time self._

_“Enough to know that there’s an Apocalypse going on with Lucifer out of the Cage, thanks to yours truly.” Samuel answered self-deprecatingly, gesturing to himself. “What else is there to tell?”_

_The future angel groaned under his breath while D hit his older brother on the shoulder in annoyance. “What has Castiel done to deserve your blasphemy, Sam? How hard is to show him some respect?” He chided Samuel, who rolled his eyes and scoffed in irritation. “Can you at least save your sacrilege for Zachariah?”_

_Future Cas was about to speak up with a frustrated look on his face._

_“Goddamnit, Dean, you believe anything that isn’t total piety is sacrilegious! Just because you have faith doesn’t mean you can push it on me.” Samuel argued back, his tone venomous and irritable. “Seriously, why can’t you see that God doesn’t give a shit about—”_

_There were seriously going to talk about that. Why now? Could they pick a better time than right **now**? Present Cas looked peeved at Samuel’s attitude toward God but didn’t say anything as he seemed to be studying the boy._

_Future Cas looked more mentally drained than earlier. “How many times have you both had that argument?” He said, clearly frustrated with them. “I’ve said before that I don’t require worship. I’m just an angel.”_

_The future Winchester brothers sighed in sync and said nothing._

_Why didn’t the future Cas care that Samuel insulted God? It was like it didn’t even bother him, or maybe, the future angel agreed with him. Did he meet God and felt let down by his father, or something like that?_

_“If Bill and Ted here are done trying to sabotage the future, can we freakin’ move on already?” Dean snapped, glancing a pointed look at a now-aware D and Samuel, then turning to present Cas. “You can check if they’ve been lying to us, right, Cas?”_

_The present angel nodded. “Yes. I can check, although myself decades from now wouldn’t take them here if they weren’t.” Present Cas said as he approached the three time-travelers, one of whom didn’t make a good first impression on him, and nervous. “He **does** lack faith, though.”_

_Future Cas looked nervous at that revelation, so what happened to cause that?_

_“I’m not going to hurt you, Samuel. I already sensed your unclean and damaged soul when you arrived here.” He assured the nervous young hunter, likely sensing it from the kid. “You have no reason to fear for your life right now.”_

_The kid didn’t say anything, just looked at him in disbelief._

_Cas said the word ‘friend’ next to his older brother’s name in such fondness and Sam silently wondered when they would just spit it out already. He had nothing against them being together, and probably the time-travelers wouldn’t mind either._

_“See, Dean? They’re telling the truth!” The younger Winchester pointed out to his older brother, who wasn’t surprised. His brother had been suspicious that Lucifer was using Samuel as his meatsuit, and he told earlier that if future Cas trusted him, then he wasn’t Lucifer._

_“Yeah, yeah, rub it in, Sammy.” He retorted._

_Present Cas looked over at them. “They’re telling the truth about everything they’ve told you both so far.” He confirmed. “Though I would recommend that Samuel be kept far away from demons and demon blood. I sense his yearning for it as I speak.”_

_How the hell could the kid hide it so easily?_

_Samuel sighed and leaned back on his chair, visibly uncomfortable from the glances the boys, his brother, and Rebekah gave him. Most likely, he probably didn’t want them to know about his craving, based on his reaction to it being found out._

_“I’ve been clean for a year, so why would I want to ruin that?!” He yelled at them, angry and defensively. “Jesus fucking Christ, can all of you stop looking at me like that?! I’m **not** an addict anymore.” _

_Sam didn’t think he was looking at the boy any certain way, but with concern. How long had he been concealing his hunger for demon blood? Either way, why was he still determined to go along with his plan?_

_“Sam, you stay here and keep an eye on Samuel; I’ll go to Oklahoma and deal with those hunters after you make the call to Bobby’s next week.” Dean said, ordering the group around as expected, then turning to the other two time-travelers. “D, can you and Rebekah come as backup? We need to save that hunter.”_

_“Yeah, but what about—” D began but he was interrupted by his brother._

_“Seriously, you’re just gonna let your namesake bench me?!” Samuel asked him incredulously, scowling in rage, and glaring at his brother, then toward his remorseful wife standing up. “You’d go along with it, too, Rebekah?! After everything I do for you both, this is the shit I get in return!”_

_“Calm down, Sammy. It’s safer if you—”_

_“Please, Sam. It’s just—”_

_“Shut up, both of you. I don’t care if I get hurt, or God forbid, start chasing the dragon again, if it means my namesake is safe. Neither of you have the right to make my decisions for me, including our ancestors!” The younger-looking hunter, engulfed in his rage, yelled as he raised his voice. “What’s the point of coming back to the past and changing history if we take no risks?”_

_“Guys calm down. There’s a way to keep him away from the blood.” Sam said toward the three time-travelers, trying to calm Samuel down before somebody would complain to the manager of this run-down motel, in his defense. “If one of us stays there as a lookout, and two of us goes to save the hunter, Dean and Cas can go and deal with Raphael.”_

_The younger Winchester knew that Dean would stop him from staying at his original place at the bar, and that Samuel was about just as insistent. He had to do something to keep the kid safe, even if the hunters wouldn’t know anything about him._

_It would be great if somebody would just listen to him instead of going through all this trouble, but knowing Samuel, he wouldn’t back down on his plan. He needed to know why the kid cared about him **that** much._

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: Greeley, Pennsylvania

Timeline: August 22 – Night 

**(Dean’s POV)**

Dean was dampening a wash cloth in the motel sink and started to clean up his bloody jacket and had become startled when he noticed present Cas behind him in the mirror.

“God.” He said, thumping the sink. “Don’t do that.”

“Hello, Dean.”

The older Winchester turned around and present Cas was inches from him. Honestly, the closer the angel was to him, the more tempting it was to do things he didn’t want to think about. He had forgotten all about this as he’d been worried about Sam this whole time.

“Cas, we’ve talked about this.” He said, hiding his feelings. “Personal space?”

“My apologies.” The angel said, then stepped back.

Dean grabbed his jacket and walked toward the bed and put his jacket on. “How’d you find me this time? I thought I was flying below the angel radar.” He rubbed his ribs to show his point. “You find God yet? More importantly, can I have my damn necklace back, please?”

“You are. Bobby told me where you were.” Present Cas said, glancing around the motel room, with only one bed. “No, I haven’t found him. That’s why I’m here. I need your help.”

“Oh yeah. You were wasted by a teenage mutant ninja angel.” Dean said, recalling what future Cas said as he walked back over to the sink and picked up his knife, and began washing it. “So, what, you think you can find this dude and he’s just gonna spill God’s address?”

“Yes, because we are gonna trap him and interrogate him.”

The hunter paused and turned back, not thinking his, no, _not_ his angel was that serious. Present Cas never went into details of what they found, or what was even said, in Dean’s defense. They could’ve come up with nothing for all he knew for now.

“You’re serious about this.” He said as the present Cas turned around to face Dean, and dropped the washcloth, and walked toward the angel. “So, what, I’m Thelma and you’re Louise and we’re just going to hold hands and sail off this cliff together?”

That didn’t sound like such a bad idea, though. No, this wasn’t the time.

Present Cas stared at Dean with confusion as he went around the angel and tended back to his knife. “Give me one good reason why I should do this.” He said. “You from the future never said if we found anything, or if this was even that important.”

“Because you’re Michael’s vessel and no angel will dare harm you.”

Dean looked at him incredulously. “Oh, so I’m your bullet shield.” He commented.

“I need your help because you are the only one from the present who’ll help me.” Present Cas insisted and who was the hunter to resist such an attractive—no, such a desperate friend. “ _Please._ ”

Dean considered it, then decided.

“Alright, fine. Where is he?”

“Maine. Let’s go.”

Present Cas reached to touch the older Winchester’s forehead with two fingers.

Dean leaned away. “Whoa.” He said.

“What?”

“Last time you zapped me someplace I didn’t poop for a week. We’re driving.”

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: Garber, Oklahoma

Timeline: August 22 – Night 

**(Sam’s POV)**

Sam and his namesake were in the bar that night working, and Lindsay didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary with either of them so far. After the first couple of days of being alone here, Samuel was _finally_ starting to become more comfortable and social around him.

Tonight, the younger Winchester was at the bar next to the bartender while Lindsay threw darts. Thankfully, Samuel was minding his own business reading one of his law books on his break, and not in too bad of a mood tonight.

Lindsay threw a dart that landed near the center of the target.

“Hey, Keith, you play?” She called over at him.

“That depends. What are we playing for?” He asked.

“World peace.”

“Oh, is that all?” Sam asked, having felt that she had a motive.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.” The older-looking hunter said as he wiped his hands down on the cloth and tossed it at the bar whilst Lindsay retrieved the darts. He noticed Samuel look over at her skeptically, hiding his glances behind the book in front of his face.

“You finished that crossword puzzle in the kitchen?”

“Uh, I guess. Why?” The younger Winchester answered.

“The _New York Times_ Saturday crossword?”

He looked down. “Was it?” He asked.

“Uh-huh. You blow into town last week with your German cousin, leave out of nowhere and come back the next day,” she elaborated, “you don’t talk to anybody, you’re obviously highly educated. You’re like this...”

“Riddle wrapped inside an enigma wrapped inside a taco?” He joked.

She nodded, smiling. “Here’s what we play for. When I win, you buy me dinner and tell me your life story.” She suggested. “I’d ask Henry over there, too, but you know…”

The boy glanced over at them, and then tended back to his book.

Sam sighed in his mind. _Did Klaus even bother to teach Samuel what manners are?_ He thought, then figuring that he could quickly win the game and get this over with.

“Sounds fair.” He answered.

The TV in the bar was on and the news anchor’s voice spoke.

**_“—last year alone, standards of….and see how that turns out…”_ **

Sam threw all three darts into the center of the target as he noticed Samuel put his book down, and came over closer to the TV, with concern that was quickly masked up.

**_“And now…with…—”_ **

“Very mysterioso.” Lindsay commented.

**_“Spring hail, lightning strikes, and now fire—”_ **

“I like it,” she commented further.

Sam’s attention, and by default, Samuel’s were on the _KPJT 6 News_ on the TV, which shifted from one video of a hailstorm to another to another, then to a video of trees on fire, then to the reporter live with fire and fireman in the background. While the reporter was on screen, there was a box that says ‘Live Report’ next to a scrollbar repeating, ‘Fire consumes town, residents forced to evacuate...’

 ** _“—the town of Tully? tonight, John. Locals say that what started as a torrential hailstorm late this afternoon suddenly turned to massive lightning strikes that triggered the fires now consuming more than twenty acres here along the Route 17 corridor.”_** The reporter said. **_“County officials are advising all Tully residents to prepare for what could become mandatory evacuations.”_**

The bartender shut the TV off, who said, “Damn. Is it me or does it seem like it’s the end of the world?”

Sam looked away whilst Samuel went back to his book, as if nothing out of the ordinary was reported, given the indifferent look on his face.

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: Waterville, Maine

Timeline: August 23 – Day 

**(Dean’s POV)**

Dean and present Cas got out of the Impala upon arriving at their destination.

“And we’re here, why?” He questioned his friend.

“A deputy sheriff laid eyes on the archangel.”

“And he still has eyes?” Dean asked. “Alright, what’s the plan?”

“We’ll...tell the officer that he witnessed an angel of the Lord,” present Cas explained his plan without the knowledge of humanity his future self-seemed to have, “and the officer will tell us where the angel is.”

“Seriously? You’re going to walk in there and tell him the truth?”

“Why not?” Present Cas asked, confused, and it was kind of cute, not that Dean would acknowledge it, or admit it. The older Winchester pushed the thought of his head.

“Because we’re humans.” Dean said, pulling out another fake ID and stashed it into the present angel’s coat, then adjusting that and his tie. Cas, present or future, took his breath away. “And when humans want something really, _really_ bad, we lie.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s how you become President.” He remarked.

Right before walking inside of the Waterville Sheriff’s Department, Dean’s phone rang, and he saw that it was a call from a number he didn’t recognize and answered it.

“Who’s this?”

“It’s Rebekah. Your brother gave me your number and I need to update you on what’s going on our end of things. Sam— _my_ Sam—told me the demon crisis will be an hour away in Tully, Oklahoma, and—”

“Hold, hold on! Aren’t you and D were taking care of that?”

“He doesn’t feel I’m safe to go on a hunt like that if there’s only two of us. We’ve both been trying to get a hold of Castiel—from our future—to ask for back-up, and nothing yet. Even Sam’s prayed and you know him enough to think I’d be joking right now about that and insists that I stay at the motel.”

“So…D’s being a drama king and Samuel’s bitching about you going?”

“Yeah, basically. Can you try to reach him?”

“Sure. This is the number to reach you, right, Rebekah?”

“It is. Thanks.”

“Anytime. If you weren’t married and from the future, you know I’d—”

Dean heard an annoyed scoff on her end of the line as she hung up and put her contact under the different spelling ‘Rebecca,’ then glancing at Cas, before both headed inside.

* * *

“Deputy Framingham?”

The deputy turned around and the older Winchester, who held up the fake FBI ID. “Hi. Alonzo Mosely, FBI. This is my partner, Eddie Moscone.” He said, then noticing present Cas doing nothing. “Also, FBI.”

Present Cas still did nothing until he noticed Dean’s stare, who pulled out his fake FBI ID, upside down. The hunter turned it over for him and added to the deputy, “He’s, uh, he’s new. Mind if we ask you a few questions?”

The angel looked at the ID curiously.

“Yeah, sure. Talk here, though.” Framingham said, indicating his right ear and led them to his office. “Hearing’s all blown to hell in this one.”

“That happen recently?” Dean asked.

“Yeah. Gas station. Why you’re here, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is.” The older Winchester said as they all sat down. “You mind just, uh, running us through what happened?”

“A call came in. Disturbance out at the Pump and Go on Route 4.”

“What kind of disturbance?” Dean asked.

“Would not have believed my eyes if I hadn’t seen it myself.” Framingham elaborated with disbelief in his voice. “We’re talking a riot. Full scale.”

“How many?”

“Thirty, forty, in all-out kill-or-be-killed combat?” The deputy answered.

“It’s angels and demons, probably.” Present Cas spoke up, causing Framingham to look at him and the angel looked back, showing his inexperience in speaking with humans. “They’re skirmishing all over the globe.”

“Come again?” The deputy asked, then turning to Dean. “What did he say?”

Simultaneously, both answered.

“Nothing. Nothing.” Dean answered, embarrassed.

“Demons. Demons.” Present Cas answered, who had no idea how to talk to humans, outside of the modern Winchester’s and the three time-travelers. If only there was a YouTube video on teaching angels how to interact with normal people.

Cas shut up, now realizing he used the wrong words at the wrong time.

“Demons, you know, drink, adultery. We all have our demons, Walt.” Dean improvised on the spot and the deputy looked back and forth, who answered, “I guess.”

The older Winchester looked at present Cas. “Anyway.”

He turned his attention back to Framingham. “What happened next?”

“Freaking explosion, that’s what.” The deputy answered, skeptical of what he’d been told. “They said it was one of those underground gas tanks, but, uh, I don’t think so.”

“Why not?” The hunter asked.

“Wasn’t your usual fireball. It was, um—”

“Pure white.” Present Cas supplied.

“Yeah. Gas station was leveled. Everyone was...it was just horrible.” Framingham attempted to explain what he saw. “And I see this one guy, kneeling, real focused-like, not a damn scratch on him.”

“You know him?” Dean asked.

“Donnie Finneman. Mechanic there.”

“Let me guess, he just, uh, vanished into thin air?” He elaborated on the question.

“Uh, no, Kolchak. He’s down at Saint Pete’s.”

Present Cas turned to Dean. “Saint Pete’s.” He said, now they had a lead.

The older Winchester thanked the deputy.

* * *

After arriving at the St. Peter’s Hospital, Dean and present Cas observed Donnie from the hallway window.

“I take it that’s not Raphael anymore.” He said.

“Just an empty vessel.” Present Cas answered.

“So is this what I’m looking at if Michael jumps in my bones?”

“No, not at all. Michael is much more powerful.” The angel answered. “It’ll be far worse for you.”

Dean looked away.

This was happening all over again the future, he recalled in his mind, only except it being him and Sam, it was D and Samuel instead. Whatever happened for the angels to have to re-set and start over again with a couple of kids born in the future twenty-three years from now.

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: Garber, Oklahoma

Timeline: August 23 – Night 

**(Sam’s POV)**

Everything had begun happening as the time-travelers said it would. Sam worried about Dean, after receiving a call from him and he explained the whole Raphael situation so far on their end. Future Cas shown up earlier and told them to not change too much of what happens and to put the Enochian angel concealment carvings on the time-travelers’ ribs. He couldn’t appear too much, for Heaven would be able to find him if he didn’t make himself scarce.

The younger Winchester opened his laptop to a calligraphed page of the Book of Revelations in Latin and highlighted a section and magnified it. He realized that neither of them had told Bobby about the time-travelers yet as he picked up the phone and scrolled past a few names until he reached Bobby’s.

“Sam?” Bobby answered.

“Hey Bobby. How you doing?”

“Well, I ain’t running any marathons, but I’ll live.”

Sam laughed.

“Where are you?”

“Uh, Garber, Oklahoma. I found a town up the road showing some Revelation omens. Dean and I met a few time-travelers last week. Cas checked them out and they’re telling the truth.”

“What omens? What’s this about time-travelers?”

“Alright, listen to this. ‘And upon his rising there shall be hail and fire mixed with blood.’ They can explain it better than me, but uh, it’s related to the Apocalypse.”

“Well ain’t that delightful.”

“Yeah. But we already got hailstorms and fire so I’m guessing blood can’t be too far behind.”

“Okay.”

“What?”

“There a reason you’re calling?”

“Dean didn’t tell you?”

“He told me. Mentioned those time-travelers, too.”

“Yeah. So, I just thought you might want to find out who’s in the area and put a man on this.”

“Okay, let me see if I can think of the best hunter who might be in the immediate vicinity—oh, that’d be you.”

“I can’t, Bobby, I’m sitting this one out.”

“Sam—”

“I gotta go. I’m so sorry.”

“Hold on, Sam—”

Sam hung up the phone.

The younger Winchester they had more help to do with the Apocalypse, but everything felt so damn bleak. Nothing could undo the fact that _he_ let Lucifer out, and because of that, it was up to him to fix it one way or another. There was always a way to do it.

_“I do not even know what my face looks like in the mind of those who think of me. For others, what am I?” – Simone de Beauvoir_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you guys think? Is this more organized, or easier to read than the previous chapters?
> 
> Update: I fixed this one up, too.
> 
> \--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> Updated authors note (2\24\21): I put in the fitting quotes.


	8. Chapter 7 - My Own Worst Enemy (Pt. 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam struggles with his own self-loathing by distracting himself from it while waiting for the current disaster about to come to be prevented, and plus, he should have a talk with Samuel about what boundaries, privacy, and not drawing attention to himself. Thankfully, the time-traveler is a handful enough to keep him busy. 
> 
> Dean tries to take present Cas out to a brothel to get his friend to relax and ignores his own feelings toward the angel and concern for Cas’s life. They plan to trap Raphael at sunrise and spend tonight together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note:
> 
> Thank you for any leavings of kudos, bookmarking, and subscriptions. I’ve been watching a lot of Criminal Minds lately and I’m working through season three now in between my online classes. Episode five, “Seven Seconds,” is primarily what helped with my recent writer’s block. 
> 
> In my mind, Sam is like Derek Morgan to Samuel like Spencer Reid, despite being the same age. Without giving any spoilers away, Morgan is like an older brother to Reid, and more experienced in different areas that he helps Reid with, like picking up girls. 
> 
> In the case of this story, Sam realizes that Samuel has a limited capacity of understanding non-familial relationships, despite faking those emotions for years when he must. That’s where Sam comes in, he helps the kid named after him to understand concepts like that foreign to him.
> 
> I’ve been listening to the “Rapture Rising” and “Daddy’s Home” Bioshock songs by JT Music a lot recently, which have been motivation for this as well. The director’s cut for the music video “Hurricane,” by 30 Seconds to Mars serves as an inspiration as well.
> 
> I have an idea for this chapter and the next, so I hope it works. Let me know what your guys’ thoughts are if it doesn’t work. It feels like I’m rehashing the episode with inserting my characters, and I want to see if I can shake things up in that aspect.
> 
> As for the original statement:
> 
> I have done a lot of research for this story and have been hesitant to post it, for I want to make sure I wrote my German main characters accurately. If I made any mistakes with either portrayal, please let me know and I will fix it. Any constructive criticism is welcome and please let me know what you guys think. I sincerely hope that the portrayals are accurate and are not offensive in any shape or form. If there are any grammar errors, please let me know and I can fix them.

_“You freeze up in childhood, you go numb, because you cannot change your circumstances and to recognize, name, and feel the emotions and their cruel causes would be unbearable, and so you wait.” – Rebecca Solnit_

Year: 2009

Full timeline: August 22 – August 25, 2009

Timeline for this chapter: August 24

Chapter Seven

My Own Worst Enemy (Pt. 2)

**(Dean’s POV)**

Dean walked through an empty cabin, looking through John’s journal. He set it on the table and turned toward present Cas, who was holding a ceramic jar. “Where’ve you been?” He asked.

“Jerusalem.” The angel answered.

“Oh, how was it?”

“Arid.” Present Cas answered, setting the jar on the table.

“What’s that?”

“It’s oil. It’s very special. Very rare.” His friend said, sitting down.

“Okay, so we trap Raphael with a nice vinaigrette?”

Dean was starting to get frustrated with how cryptic future Cas was about the details of exactly what went wrong in the future, other than about the rebooted Apocalypse. He tried praying to the angel’s futuristic self, and no surprise, he never answered.

What the hell was future Cas keeping from him?

“No.” Present Cas answered, bringing him back to reality.

“So, this ritual of yours, when does it got to go down?”

“Sunrise.”

“Tell me something. You keep saying we're gonna trap this guy.” Dean asked, trying to figure out exactly what his friend was expecting. “Isn’t that kinda like trapping a hurricane with a butterfly net?”

“No, it’s harder.” Present Cas said, taking him literally.

“Do we have any chance of surviving this?”

“You do.” The angel answered.

“So, odds are you’re a dead man tomorrow.” He concluded, shoving that thought of his mind, then present Cas confirmed his fear. 

“Yes.”

“Well. Last night on earth.” Dean said, bringing in some levity in the moment. “What are your plans?”

“I just thought I’d sit here quietly.”

“Come on, anything? Booze, women?” He continued, shoving his thoughts about something else in the back of his mind. Present Cas looked at him, and then away, clearly uncomfortable.

“You have been with women before. Right?” He pried. “Or an angel, at least?”

The angel rubbed the back of his neck.

“You mean to tell me you’ve never been up there doing a little cloud-seeding?”

“Look, I’ve never had occasion, okay?” Present Cas admitted.

“Alright.” Dean said, grabbing his jacket, then deciding to take Cas out for a fun night. “Let me tell you something. There are two things I know for certain. One, Bert and Ernie are gay. Two, you are not gonna die a virgin. Not on my watch. Let’s go.”

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: Garber, Oklahoma

Timeline: August 24 – Night 

**(Sam’s POV)**

Sam was ready for an attack anytime now, although the time-travelers informed him that it wouldn’t be until after he closed the bar. The other two were at the motel, who were waiting until after closing to assist in as look-outs, who reluctantly decided to heed future Cas’ warnings and not change more than they had to. The decision to let a hunter a die wasn’t difficult for Samuel to make and it was easy for him, given that he shown no empathy for the man who would die. D and Rebekah, though, were reasoned out of going for strategic reasons that were in their favor.

Instead they opted to pray to Cas for help in that case.

If they would go on the hunt, it ran too much of a risk that they would be outnumbered, too much of a drive back and forth between here and Tully, and the three hunters wouldn’t accept two total strangers’ help. It made perfect sense, although the collateral damage clearly meant nothing to Samuel, who moved on with his own plan for that evening.

It bothered him immensely that the hunter would die as well, and the boy explained calmly in his extremely limited set of emotions that no matter what they do, some people will die. Also, that it wasn’t worth risking the lives of family for somebody who they might not save that served them no purpose, although the kid didn’t phrase it that cruelly.

This was just how his mind worked, and he didn’t sugarcoat any of his reasoning. Although the kid _did_ try to understand what his namesake was telling him, and even said that he wished that he didn’t think the way he did. He explicitly stated that he wanted to be different and he wanted to think like a normal person, but he couldn’t understand the emotions Sam was describing.

Still, though, knowing somebody would die and letting happen wasn’t going to fly with the younger Winchester, nor D and Rebekah. They had to come up with something, and even the kid reluctantly agreed to keep an open mind about this.

After Sam calmed down and tried to think of an alternative plan, another question came to mind, _how_ literally did Samuel mean ‘take his place’? God, the younger Winchester hoped it didn’t mean what he thought it did. They had the same height, but outside of that, nothing else in common in appearance. Samuel had a rather lanky build and he dressed in all black, and his lawyer haircut starting to grow out.

Hell, even if he would need one of Sam’s shirts for this, it’d be too big for him!

The younger Winchester didn’t miss the smirk on the kid’s face when he told his namesake of his plan to close the bar whilst Sam and the other two time-travelers were lookouts. He would stand in the shadows of the dimmed bar, where the hunters would assume Sam would be and attack _him_ instead. Thus, allowing them to save Lindsay, and Sam wished that he could fill her in on everything. She wouldn’t believe him, and it would put a dent in the plan, and furthermore put her at risk.

However, going in before their evening shift, Sam told her that he’d lock up for the night and told her that she should head out before that.

It may had put a dent in the plan as she questioned him as suspicious as he appeared, but he hoped that she’d heed his warning. The younger Winchester didn’t want her to end up as more collateral damage, because after all, he wasn’t like Samuel who could move on like nothing happened if a civilian died during a case. He wondered what that feeling was like, not that he wanted to, to think of civilian and irrelevant hunters lives as unimportant.

How could somebody let strangers die without trouble and care too much about the lives of family to the point of risking their lives, _and_ maybe relapsing, too? Either way, they had work to do. At the bar that night, a patron was playing pool whilst Sam took a tray of empty glasses and trash, and the guests of honor would arrive soon. Samuel was on edge, keeping a watch while he served drinks at the bar.

“Hey, Sam.” The first unknowing guest said, alerting both, Sam ignored him, and the time-traveler looked away to not attract attention. “Sam.” He spoke again, prompting the time-traveler to resist looking toward him from the bar out of reflex.

“Sam? What happened to Keith?” Lindsay asked, clearly confused.

The younger Winchester put down the tray and looked over.

“Wait, what?” He asked, though it’s not like anyone else knew beforehand.

The woman gestured at the three hunters. “He called you Sam.” She pointed out.

“Yeah. Uh. Sam’s my middle name.” Sam improvised at the last minute, glancing back at Samuel trying not to pay attention, though technically they were also using _his_ name, too.

Lindsay laughed. “Keith Sam?” She asked. “Man, I’m sorry.”

Cas did tell them the names of the hunters and Sam remembered one of the names.

“Well, actually, it’s Samuel, so it's not quite as dumb as it sounds.” _Tim_ said and heard an accented ‘hmm?’ from the bar but only glanced a suspicious look at the kid behind the bar.

“Are you guys friends?” She asked, then glancing over at the boy, who realized his mistake. “You said ‘hmm?’ when he said Samuel, is that your name? Is your name even Henry?”

Initially nervous, Samuel bounced back gracefully with an excuse.

“I don’t go by that name anymore.” He supplied convincingly with the right disdain in his tone, emphasizing his name with discomfort. “My middle name is Henry.”

The kid started cleaning glasses at the bar as one of the other two hunters, resumed conversation with Sam and Lindsay. “Hunting buddies. With his dad.” _Steve_ said. “Samuel here is quite the hunter himself.”

It looked like the younger-looking hunter was about to look up again.

“Wow. You killed deer and things?” Lindsay asked.

“Yeah, and things.” The first one who spoke said, whose name was Tim?

“Um. Why don't I get you guys some drinks?” Sam suggested, then turning over to Samuel. “ _Henry_ , could you grab them a few beers?” He nearly slipped up and called the boy by his name.

“Of course.” The kid answered with a nod. “I’ll bring them over to you guys.”

The three hunters sat at the table, and Samuel brought over three beers, pulled over a fifth seat to join them. Suspiciously, the younger Winchester didn’t protest him joining them, and he stood out like a sore thumb especially amongst fellow hunters. Though the thought wasn’t expressed by any of the three hunters aloud, Samuel looked more like a university student trying too hard to fit in at a school full of rich kids.

Well, it wasn’t every day that a hunter had a neat, polished ivy league haircut (or _almost_ ivy league, given the boy’s uncut bangs), and looked more like he should be studying in a library instead of working in a bar in Oklahoma.

Sitting at table with hunters in worn-out flannel shirts, blue jeans, and tough, Samuel in another of his dark button-downed dress shirts, black jeans, and polished leather boots was like a sea lion trying to swim with a few great white sharks. The kid had guts to approach the three older hunters as boldly as he did.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to bust you back there.” Tim said, then suspiciously looked at the younger-looking hunter, who really didn’t look like a hunter. “I don’t remember anybody asking you to sit down, kid. Mind leaving us alone?”

Samuel shook his head. “You’re here about the demon crisis m— _Sam’s_ —friend Bobby informed you three about.” He stated matter-of-factly, rather darkly. “I’m a hunter, too, so you’d do well to not test my patience.”

Tim, Steve, and Reggie were officially suspicious of him now, great.

Good thing they weren’t entirely sober, thanks to the beers.

The younger Winchester shot him an exasperated look. _Samuel **really** needs a filter. _He thought, not pleased with the time-traveler now, who glanced at him like a kicked puppy, then turning to the other three hunters.

“No. It’s all right.” Sam told the hunters. “So, what’s up?”

“Bobby called, like whatever-his-real-name-is there said.” Tim answered.

“And?”

“You were right. Major demon block party going on.” He confirmed.

“But why?” Sam asked as neither Cas, nor the time-travelers told them why the attack was happening, glancing a look over at Samuel, who must’ve known _something_ about this. “What are they up to?”

“Don’t know yet.” Steve answered.

“Bobby told us you were off limits. That true?” Reggie asked.

“Yeah, that’s right.” The younger Winchester confirmed.

“That’s fine in theory and all, but we could really use all hands-on deck here.” Tim emphasized, then glancing more suspicion on Samuel. “Not like we can bring the kid with us, even _if_ he’s a hunter. Still it’s none of my business, but who is he?”

Sam wished that the time-traveler didn’t jump the gun and go straight for intimidating them before anything happened at all, but it’s not like he could blame the younger-looking hunter for being angry at his namesakes’ would-be attackers.

Why couldn’t he just lie low and _not_ attract everyone’s attention for once?

Admittedly, he had only known the kid for a week and half, and after practically living with him, he quickly learned that Samuel had a fragile ego and a need for constant attention. Honestly, this tendency of his could seriously get him hurt or even killed if he angered the wrong hunter at the wrong time.

“I know you could. But I can’t. I’m sorry.” Sam apologized, then improvised, “He’s a cousin of my and Dean’s from Germany. His dad used to be in the business.”

They probably didn’t buy the story, given the suspicious looks on their faces.

“Why not?” Steven asked.

“It’s personal.”

“Look, man, what baggage is so heavy it can’t be stowed away for be stowed away for the freaking apocalypse?” Tim said, trying to convince him to help them, noticing a glare from Samuel.

“Like I said—” Sam tried to get to them to stop, but Reggie interrupted. “Yeah. You’re sorry.” He said. “Heard it the first time.”

“Suit yourself.” Tim said. “More for us then, right?”

“Good luck.” The younger Winchester said.

“ _Abhauen. **1**_ ” Samuel muttered.

He glanced a more exasperated look at the kid, whose tone in whatever he said in German, wasn’t pleasant at all. “Dude, just shut up.” He whispered to him, who only sighed in frustration.

“But hey. Beers are on you when we get back.” Tim interrupted.

“Yeah, you bet.” Sam said, then turning to his namesake, who was giving him that kicked puppy look _again_ until they left a few moments later. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” He whispered to the boy, finding it difficult to be irritated with him, even if the kid seemed to be asking for them to kill him.

He wondered if this is how Dean felt when he gave his older brother that look.

“No, I’m trying to keep you safe. If they know that I have a bad side, then they suspect I could be a threat or assume that I’m overcompensating for a weakness. Even other hunters can be controlled with fear once they know who they’re up against.” Samuel reasoned in a serious manner, yet no concern for those hunters’ lives in his voice. “They’ll be less inclined to harm myself and my family unless they’re suicidal enough to try. More will be unlikely to try once word is spread that I _can_ harm them or kill them if I must.”

Sam had a look of disbelief on his face, despite knowing his total disregard for other human lives, even fellow hunters. He spoke the word ‘hunters,’ in scorn and in distrust, so maybe that was because hunters in the future have tried to harm him or his family?

Hell, maybe they tried to kill him or someone else he cared about? It explained the anger and distrust the boy had for his fellow hunters, and why he had been so hostile to Tim, Steve, and Reggie. Other hunters must have known, likely after Lucifer was re-released, and Sam couldn’t imagine everything that kid could’ve been through that he wasn’t telling them.

Either way, the question of how Samuel could speak of non-familial people in such apathetic and flippant manner ran through his mind, but both tragedy and psychological trauma could change people. By his description and implication, he seemed to deal with people who harmed him or his family by harming them, or God, even _killing_ them! The way he spoke of how he regarded family, it was laced with intensity and reverence.

What was Samuel like before he changed? If he even changed at all, that is. As far as Sam knew, the kid could’ve been like this before his father went off the rails, based on the vague details Dean had told him of about Samuel’s childhood.

 _By the sounds of it, it’s like hunters in the future have tried to hurt or kill him or his family, so that explains the distrust and his anger. Still how can he just not care about other people, enough to kill them without feeling guilty?_ Sam thought, trying to make sense of this, based off the limited information he knew about the boy. _Wait…Does think of me as family, too? Enough to kill for?_

The thought of the kid killing somebody for Sam’s sake was both concerning _and_ disturbing, and then realized that he and Dean would (and have) done the same for each other if it came down to it, but killing another hunter was something they avoided. Maybe Samuel wasn’t as different from him as he seemed and maybe his arrogant behavior was hiding something much less intimidating and disagreeable. Something painful.

The tense moment was thankfully interrupted by Lindsay.

“So, your parents were drunk when they named you and you shoot Bambi?” She asked him, then glancing at the time-traveler. “Your middle name is Samuel and that’s his first name, too?”

“It’s a long story.” Sam answered, knowing she wouldn’t give up on her goal.

“That is it. Enough with the kung fu wandering the earth thing.” She said stubbornly, glancing over at Samuel, who was on alert. “I’m gonna buy you dinner and we’re gonna talk.”

“Lindsay, I can’t.” He insisted.

“No. The only way to avoid bloodshed is to say yes.”

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: Waterville, Maine?

Timeline: August 24 – Night 

**(Dean’s POV)**

At a table at the brothel, Dean drank while present Cas was noticeably terrified. The hunter wanted to see his friend relax, and if this would be their last night out (God, he hoped not!), he wanted Cas to enjoy himself here.

“Hey. Relax.” He tried to assure the angel.

“This is a den of iniquity. I should not be here.”

“Dude, you full-on rebelled against heaven.” Dean said, trying to lighten up him up, who had spoken with such remorse in his voice and it bothered the hunter that Cas had been _so_ conditioned by Heaven. “Iniquity is one of the perks.”

A hooker approached them, and Dean noticed her.

“Showtime,” he muttered in amusement.

“Hi, what’s your name?” She asked him and present Cas tried not to look at her.

“Cas.” Dean answered for him and the angel startled. “His name is Cas. What’s your name?”

“Chasity.” The woman answered.

“Chasity.” The hunter repeated, and noticed present Cas drinking his beer. “Wow. Is that kismet or what, buddy? Well, he likes you, you like him, so dayenu.” He said, trying to get his friend to ease up and enjoy himself.

The woman tugged present Cas up. “Come on, baby.”

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: Garber, Oklahoma

Timeline: August 24 – Night 

**(Time-travelers’ POV)**

After Samuel’s would-be attackers left, business at the bar became slow and his namesake told him to sit down and take a break, just seeing him lost in thought like that wasn’t a good thing. Their manager was out for the evening and it was just Samuel, his namesake, and Lindsay working that night, so it was safe. Once he sat down and grabbed his law book from behind to bar to continue reading in the corner of the room, his namesake quickly texted D and told him what had just transpired. The next thing Samuel knew was that his brother was there, pulling up two chairs to sit down at the small table.

“Was macht Ihr denn hier?” **2** He asked his older-looking younger brother with annoyance in his tone, putting the makeshift paper bookmark in the law book, and closing it in his irritation. “Hast du keine Vorbereitungen zu treffen?” **3**

D sighed, looking at his brother with concern. “Sammy, dein Namensvetter hat mir geschrieben, was passiert ist.” **4** He said, making his brother groan. “Du bist hier sicher, versprochen. Fühlen Sie sich immer noch wohl damit, Ihren Namensvetter heute Abend zu nehmen?” **5**

Samuel scoffed and glared at his younger brother. “Nein, sei nicht lächerlich, Dean!” **6** He yelled angrily, getting attention as his namesake and Lindsay, including the very few customers in the restaurant. “Du behandelst mich, als wäre ich dein bedürftiger kleiner Bruder. Sind Sie ehrlich gesagt so besorgt, Ihre ängste auf mich projizieren?” **7**

D sighed and managing to keep himself calm, and reason with Samuel.

“Nein, bin ich nicht. Du hast Angst, Sam, und es ist in Ordnung zu sein! Du bist ein Mensch, genau wie dein Namensvetter. Warum denkst du, du solltest immer stark sein?” **8** He said, though peeved, yet his worry overcame the annoyance in his voice, hoping it would get past Sam’s overly inflated ego. “Du weißt, du kommst als jaded raus, aber du kennst mich, und der rest unserer Geschwister kann das durchschauen. Rebekah kann es jetzt durchschauen. Wir wollen dir nur helfen, lass uns.” **9**

The taller of the two groaned in frustration, running his hand through his short hair.

“Mit welchem problem würdest du mir helfen, wenn ich überhaupt eines hätte? Du weißt doch, wie unerträglich du manchmal bist, oder?” **10** He asked D irritably. “Sonst würdest du es nicht benutzen, um aus mir herauszuholen, was du willst.” **11**

His younger brother smiled. “Ich habe von den besten gelernt.” **12** He said modestly.

Samuel smiled back. “Was tun Sie dann, wenn Sie eine wahrgenommene Verwundbarkeit in Ihrem Opfer erkennen?” **13** He asked, feeling warm because his ego was fed well, and he was proud of his brother, who answered promptly, “Lenken Sie das Thema ab und nutzen Sie Ihren angeblichen Fehler ohne zu zögern.” **14**

D saw the proud big brother moment mixed with a satisfied ego fade, knowing that this distraction would get him back on the topic.

“Hast du jetzt, was du von mir willst, Dean? Bist du zuversichtlich in meine Fähigkeiten oder trägst du immer noch deinen pseudo älteren Bruder personae?” **15** Sam asked him, somewhat annoyed. “So sehr ich es Schätze, wie gut ich dich erzogen habe, entspanne dich und konzentriere dich auf deinen und rebekahs Teil des plans. Deine Maske geht mir auf die Nerven.” **16**

The younger of the two stood up. “Noch eine Sache, Sammy.” **17** He said in a serious tone. “Was planen Sie mit der Entrückung?” **18**

Samuel looked toward his brother with assurance on his face. “Du musst dir keine sorgen machen. Wir werden aufstehen und Sie werden fallen.” **19** He said confidently. “Diese gewalttätigen Freuden haben gewalttätige enden.” **20**

D let out a sigh under his breath with remorse on his face. “Würde Gott das genehmigen? Ich weiß, wie du über ihn denkst, aber denkst du, wir sollten—” **21** He whispered, his brother cutting him off.

“Halt da an. Wie oft hast du gebetet und noch nie eine Antwort von ihm bekommen? Ich kann immer noch kaum glauben, dass er existiert, aber wenn er sich darum kümmert, würde er es beenden, bevor es so schlimm wird.” **22** Sam told him, looking at his younger with worry. “Er kümmert sich nicht um uns oder unsere Namensvetter, deren Leben in Gefahr ist, als unsere gerade sind! Wenn überhaupt, sollte er die Verantwortung für die Schwänze übernehmen, die er verantwortlich machte und Sie selbst beenden.” **23**

D nodded, though no more anxious than he already was. “Nicht Michael, richtig?” **24**

“Natürlich nicht Michael. Obwohl diese Version von time-line ihm widersprechen wird, aber Michael kann nicht verletzt werden, selbst wenn ich ihm Schaden wollte.” **25** Samuel answered with certainty, and more concern for his brother. “Geh zurück ins motel und konzentriere dich auf das, was gerade passiert.” **26**

His younger brother nodded with uncertainty on his face and began to head out when his namesake approached them of them. “Hey, guys, are you both okay?” He asked with clear concern for them both, even noticing a concerned glance from Lindsay.

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: Garber, Oklahoma

Timeline: August 24 – Night 

**(Sam’s POV)**

As he diligently worked, getting drinks for the few customers inside and wiping off the bars, Sam noticed that the two of them were arguing over something in German before they both seemed to calm down. He noticed D was about to leave the bar and approached them.

“Hey, are you guys okay?” The younger Winchester asked.

He overheard them both mention Michael.

“Yeah, Dean and I are in a stalemate whether or not I’m mentally competent.” Samuel answered in a scoff, rolling his eyes toward his rather frustrated younger brother. “I told him to go back to the motel and not worry so goddamn much about me. Do I look like I’m mentally unstable here?”

People in the bar were staring him as he was speaking quite loudly.

His brother groaned. “You’re exaggerating what I said, Sammy. You know that’s not what I meant.” He answered, rightfully irritated if the conversation went how they said it seemed to. “Can you _please_ not draw more attention to yourself?”

Sam sighed. “Yeah, dude, stop drawing more attention to yourself.” He agreed out loud.

Lindsay peered over. “I thought you said you didn’t go by your first name anymore.” She asked the younger-looking time-traveler, who sighed in irritation.

“Only a select few can refer to me by it. I suppose I should include you in that now you witnessed what my fellow _assholes_ do in their natural habitat, right?” He said with scorn in his voice toward the three hunters. “You can call me Samuel.”

This was going to be a long night.

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: Waterville, Maine?

Timeline: August 24 – Night 

**(Dean’s POV)**

Taking present Cas to a brothel couldn’t have ended up better than it did. After leaving toward the opposite end of the corridor, Dean laughed as he closed the door behind himself and his, _no_ , the angel.

“What’s so funny?” Present Cas asked, confused.

When Chasity had taken him in the brothel’s back corridor, it was natural that his friend had limited exposure to humanity and interacting with people outside the Winchester brothers and the three time-travelers would inadvertently get him in trouble.

“Oh, nothing. Whoo. It’s been a long time since I’ve laughed that hard.” Dean said with enjoyment in his voice as they got in the Impala, and it was with Cas. “It’s been more than a long time. Years.”

His face fell as he realized it.

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: Garber, Oklahoma

Timeline: August 24 – Night 

**(Sam’s POV)**

It took forever for Sam to convince Samuel to let him and Lindsay have a dinner _alone_ together and seriously, the kid didn’t seem to understand boundaries that well. The younger Winchester reminded himself to have a talk with the boy about giving him some personal space in public, and he didn’t think he’d need to talk to another _twenty-six-year-old_ about that.

He was ninety-nine percent positive that Samuel was stalking them and listening to every word of his and Lindsay’s conversation right now. Sam sat at a table opening, trying to block out that image of the kid spying on them, and Lindsay broke the awkward silence.

“So...you gonna tell me who those guys back there really were? And don’t say hunting buddies. Is Samuel _really_ your cousin and why did he lie about his name?” She questioned him. “Who was that other German guy he was arguing with?”

Sam hesitated. “Okay. Um. We used to be in the same business together.” He answered nervously. “Uh, Samuel _is_ my cousin and that was just his older brother. He’s just secretive and a bit paranoid.”

“What business?”

“How’s your salad?” The younger Winchester asked instead of answering her question.

“Witness protection, right? You’re Mafia?”

“I’m not Mafia.” He answered.

“Okay, I get it. Don’t mean to pry, my bad.”

“I used to be in business with my brother. Truth is I was pretty good at the job. But...I made some mistakes, I did some stuff I'm not so proud of, and people got hurt. A lot of people.” Sam admitted. “Including my two cousins here.”

Lindsay seemed to be able to emphasize with Sam, given the look on her face.

“What was your poison?” She asked him.

“Sorry?”

Sam was taken aback by her response, maybe she _did_ understand. “Come on. You were hooked on something; I know the look.” She said, pulling a medallion out of her pocket. “Three years sober.”

“You work in a bar.” He pointed out.

“So do you. Look, Keith.” She said with kindness in her tone to match the seriousness in it. “I don’t know you and I’m the last person to be giving advice, but I do know that no one has ever done anything so bad that they can’t be forgiven. That they can’t change.”

Sam didn’t feel as alone and he looked over at the corner of the room, seeing a familiar blued-eyed Winchester in the shade almost expertly hidden away from sight peeking over at them with realization on his face in the corner before turning away. He was going to have serious talk about privacy with Samuel later, as a side note.

More importantly, maybe he didn’t have to be his own worst enemy after all.

_“You close your eyes every now and then, just to test the waters, and find you’re still moving, being moved, walking through the tunnel with your eyes closed, help up and carried along by the crowd.” – Richard Siken_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> German translations: 
> 
> 1 “Go away.”
> 
> 2 “What are you guys doing here?”
> 
> 3 “Don’t you have preparations to make?”
> 
> 4 “Sammy, your namesake texted me about what happened.”
> 
> 5 “You’re safe here, I promise. Do you still feel comfortable with taking your namesake’s place tonight?”
> 
> 6 “No, don’t be ridiculous, Dean!”
> 
> 7 “You’ve been treating me as if I’m your needy little brother. Are you honestly that worried to project your fears on to me?”
> 
> 8 “No, I’m not. You’re afraid, Sam, and it’s alright to be! You’re human, just like your namesake. Why do you think you should always be strong?”
> 
> 9 “You know you come off as jaded, but you know me, and the rest of our siblings can see through it. Rebekah can see through it now. All we want to do is help you, just let us.”
> 
> 10 “What problem would you be helping me with, if I even had one? You’re aware of how insufferable you are sometimes, right?”
> 
> 11 “Otherwise you wouldn’t put it to use to get what you want out of me.”
> 
> 12 “I learned from the best.”
> 
> 13 “Then what do you do when you spot a perceived vulnerability in your victim?”
> 
> 14 “Deflect from the topic and use their supposed flaw against them with no hesitation.”
> 
> 15 “Do you have what you want from me now, Dean? Are you confident in my abilities, or are you still wearing your pseudo older brother persona?”
> 
> 16 “As much as I appreciate how well I raised you, relax and focus on your and Rebekah’s part of the plan. Your mask is getting on my nerves.”
> 
> 17 “One more thing, Sammy.”
> 
> 18 “What do you to plan to do about rapture?”
> 
> 19 “You don’t need to be worried. We will rise and they will fall.”
> 
> 20 “These violent delights have violent ends.”
> 
> 21 “Would God approve of this? I know how you feel about him, but do you think we should—”
> 
> 22 “Stop there. How many times have you prayed and still never got an answer from him? I still can hardly believe he exists, but anyways, if he cared, he’d put an end it to it before it’d get this bad.”
> 
> 23 “He doesn’t care about us, or our namesakes, whose lives are in more danger than ours are right now! If anything, he should take accountability for the dicks he put in charge and end them himself.”
> 
> 24 “Not Michael, right?”
> 
> 25 “Of course, not Michael. Although this time-line’s version of him will disagree, but Michael can’t be harmed, even if I wanted to harm him.”
> 
> 26 “Just go back to the motel and focus on what's happening right now.”
> 
> \------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> Updated authors note (2\24\21): I put in the fitting quotes and fixed a typo.


	9. Chapter 8 - My Own Worst Enemy (Pt. 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meanwhile in Garber, OK, Sam learns something new about the time-traveler named after him who seems to have more complex emotions than he realizes whilst waiting for Tim and Reggie’s attack, whose friend’s death they couldn’t help preventing. Dean and present Cas have summoned Raphael and find out what they can about where God is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note: 
> 
> First off, I would like to credit Clowns_or_Midgets for their Spn fic, Of All the Burdens I Must Bear, as an inspiration for this story as of recently. Thank you for reading my fic, and for leaving comments, kudos, bookmarking it, and subscribing.
> 
> Despite this fic taking place in season five, season eight and especially the finale has helped with improving of Samuel’s character in terms likability and originality. Ironically enough, The Originals has provided more inspiration in continuing this effort and watching Brave New World has helped as well. 
> 
> Also, while on the topic of inspirations, I’ve been binge-watching Criminal Minds and that has helped with coming up with new ideas for this story. I decided to shake things up and change the POVs up a bit, so which POV order do you guys prefer most?
> 
> This is the final part of episode three, and I apologize if it’s frustrating that I keep breaking everything up into parts, but I should be able to write longer parts soon. My attention span has been just shot lately and I reuploaded two more of the earlier chapters to this fic on fanfiction.net and coming up with anything write at all on this update has been difficult. 
> 
> I will get to uploading this chapter on ff.net once I reupload the earlier chapters as soon as possible. The next chapter may be delayed, and I apologize for the delays on this chapter, I still haven’t got the hang of writing altered episodes yet. 
> 
> \-----------------------------------------------------------  
> As for the original statement:
> 
> I have done a lot of research for this story and have been hesitant to post it, for I want to make sure I wrote my German main characters accurately. If I made any mistakes with either portrayal, please let me know and I will fix it. Any constructive criticism is welcome and please let me know what you guys think. I sincerely hope that the portrayals are accurate and are not offensive in any shape or form. If there are any grammar errors, please let me know and I can fix them.

Year: 2009

Full timeline: August 22 – August 25, 2009

Chapter Eight

My Own Worst Enemy (Pt. 3)

**(Dean’s POV)**

_ August 25 - Day _

Dean and present Cas were at St. Peter’s hospital to summon, and trap, Raphael to get answers from him about God. In the older Winchester’s opinion, it wasn’t worth all that time. If God were to help, and if he were benevolent like believers often said, why didn’t he ever help any of them. What was with future Cas, though? He shook those thoughts from his head as he watched a nurse go down the hallway and slipped into Donnie’s—Raphael’s old vessel—room and shut the door behind him and closed the shades. Present Cas was already inside and poured holy oil in a circle around Donnie’s wheelchair.

“When the oil burns, no angel can touch or pass through the flames, or he dies.” Present Cas told him, bringing Dean back into reality. “Okay, so we trap him in a steel cage of holy fire, but one question.” He said. “How the hell do we get him here?”

“Very simple. There’s, well, almost an open phone line between a vessel and his angel.” His friend, just his friend and not his, never mind, explained to the older Winchester. “One just has to know how to dial.”

He leaned down to Donnie’s and chanted in Enochian. “I’m here, Raphael. Come and get me, you little bastard.” The angel demanded and walked out of the oil circle. “Just out of curiosity, what is the average customer wait time to speak to an archangel?” Dean asked him.

“Be ready.”

Present Cas then light a match and dropped it on the oil, which burst into a ring of flame.

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: Garber, Oklahoma

Timeline: August 25 – Day

**(Samuel’s POV)**

Samuel knew that his namesake took issue with his preferred method of protecting those he cared about, yet he felt that he couldn’t allow himself to be negligent toward his namesake. He also knew that especially Dean and Rebekah took issue with that method, and he had to explain himself to his namesake, who didn’t understand him that well.

He approached his namesake when they were taking a brief break, and sighed.

“Hey, are you okay, Samuel?” The hero Sam asked as the young man approached the younger Winchester at the table located away from anybody, where he could safely explain himself and his abnormal ways. Not even his own namesake could entirely understand him, who _wasn’t_ disadvantaged like him, in having a limited range of emotions.

The young man scolded himself for being such a ‘freak,’ as he frequently called himself. His siblings, and even Rebekah now, called him a narcissist amongst other things that implied he had an ‘inflated ego.’ His namesake even implied and told him to ‘knock it off,’ a few times, showing that they must’ve thought something was wrong with him.

The young man cursed himself for not realizing that Dean and Rebekah’s misinformation about his intricate nature could also be believable to the hero Sam, and of course, the hero Dean probably believed it to. He loved his family, honestly, but they didn’t understand him at all sometimes and their irrational version of it _always_ seemed more believable to other people.

_What the fuck am I?!_ He asked himself. _Maybe Dad’s right about me._

“You don’t like how I protect my family and you likely believe it’s a complete invasion of privacy.” Samuel admitted quietly in reluctance, looking at the older-looking hunter with remorse. “That’s what my siblings say it is anyways. If I knew another way, I wouldn’t have to do it in this manner.”

The hero Sam looked at him with concern. “There _is_ another way you can do it.” He answered more optimistically than the boy thought he deserved in a quiet tone. “You don’t need to spy on anybody, and you don’t need to hover around anybody to keep them safe.”

Samuel raised an eyebrow. “How then?” He asked quietly, surprised at the answer.

“Sit down, alright?” His namesake asked the boy, who didn’t believe he deserved that right, and sat down across from his namesake. “Do you trust them to call or text when they need to, if they can reach you? Do you trust me, too?”

He nodded. “Yeah, of course. They don’t believe that I trust them, but I do trust them.” He answered indignantly, then sighed in frustration in his quiet tone. “I trust you and my brother’s namesake just as much, and…You’re my namesake, so if you have advice, I’ll do my best to adhere to it.”

The hero Sam looked at him with worry and laced with his being uncomfortable in hearing Samuel’s response. “Dude, it’s like you worship me, _don’t_.” He spoke quietly. “It’s like you’re trying to be like me, is that it?”

How was _that_ a bad thing? The hero Sam didn’t believe his own morals shouldn’t be taught? Samuel thought it was insane that the most moral code he knew of and was personally taught to follow, or else he would become evil, was something his namesake didn’t encourage to pass on. That’s what it sounded like to the young man anyways. Maybe he was just being modest.

Was his father wrong in teaching him the code, or maybe his father got a few details wrong?

“Wait, you don’t believe your code is righteous? Your way of doing things is moral if my dad taught me correctly.” Samuel asked his namesake quietly with confusion heavy in his usual stoic tone. “Don’t you believe that doing what’s best for your family, even if they don’t like it, must be done?”

His namesake looked a bit confused and frustrated now.

“Yeah, Samuel, but you’re not me. You have to decide what you want to do with your life, and how you do things. It’s not up to me how you want to live your life.” The hero Sam explained with the righteousness about freewill the boy had been taught since childhood. “It’s good you’re open to improving, you know.”

He shook his head with a frown. “With all due respect, the only way I get through life is through knowing what you’d do in a situation because you’re a good person and an upstanding hunter. I don’t mean to come off as worshiping you…It’s just…” He said quietly, trying to find the right words. “My dad taught me to always follow your morals, or else I give into my inherent evil. Why wouldn’t I want to aspire to be like somebody as ethical as you?”

The hero Sam’s eyes widened in surprise when he mentioned his evil.

“Your ‘inherent evil’? What do you mean, man?” He asked, confused.

“He told me that if I should ever listen to my own instincts when it comes to hunting and keeping my family safe, I should always follow your example. You know I lack a lot of emotions and that can get civilians and other hunters killed if I rely on my own instincts.” The young man explained quietly with tension in his voice. “Dad made my twin and I aware that our demon blood makes us inherently evil, that we were chosen to have it for some reason. I’ve…breached it and…it resulted in Lucifer’s release, so bad things happen if I go without the code.”

There were a few moments of silence that the hero Sam seemed angry when Samuel explained how father taught him and Emma, and he wondered why Dean and Danny had been angry as well about that, and even Rebekah when she found out. They were denial of his evil and of what he could do if he forsaken his namesake’s example.

Seriously, even his twin was on their side!

“Samuel, listen. You’re not evil and your dad’s wrong for thinking it was and pushing it on you and your twin. My dad believed something similar, but anyways, don’t believe any of that crap.” His namesake told him quietly in a profoundly serious and concerned manner. “You’re not destined to be evil and what you do matters, no matter what he thinks. You’re a good person, and you choose to be good, right?”

The young man slowly nodded, both surprised and unsurprised by the response.

He was taught that people—excluding him and Emma, unless they followed the code—chose to be good and do the right thing, and no one was destined for any sort of fate. Secretly, he wished he could have that kind of free will he and his twin had been denied, but if the hero Sam were right, then how could he learn to rely on his own judgment?

“Not to question your reasoning, don’t you think this plan could backfire? What if calling and texting my siblings, or you and my brother’s namesake ends up with one of you kidnapped?” He said as respectfully as he could without hopefully sowing doubt in his namesake in his quiet tone. “My emotional capabilities are more limited than you seem to realize, but I’ll do as you see fit. I’ll let you guys have privacy as long as you have your phones on…and I’ll give my instincts a chance.”

His namesake looked uncomfortable with him _again_.

“Dude, you’re still putting me on a pedestal. I’m human, just like you.” The hero Sam insisted quietly with urgency in his voice. “I’m not perfect and I make mistakes, just like you. Trust your own judgment.”

That concept of trusting his own judgment frightened Samuel on the inside, yet he felt his overwhelming compulsion to follow his namesake’s moral advice. How could he _not_ realize that he was making the hero Sam uncomfortable? His namesake didn’t seem to think himself worthy of his important status, and out of respect, the young man reframed from mentioning it.

“Okay.” He said quietly.

_God…following my own instincts? Is the hero Sam in denial of my evil, too? Wait, knowing Uncle John thought the same of my namesake, who’s **not** evil, and he was wrong about the hero Sam. _The young man thought with confusion sweeping through his frustrated mind. _Then the possibility that Dad’s wrong about me must be a possibility. Dean’s never been the same since… Dad’s been wrong before and he’s made decisions that fucked all four of us over._

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: ?

Timeline: August 25 – Night

**(Dean’s POV)**

Dean and present Cas entered a house to hopefully summon Raphael this time. It didn’t go as planned at the hospital and he hoped that _his_ Cas had a backup plan, wait present Cas wasn’t his. Even if the play would work, would Raphael know about the time-travelers?

“Dean, wait.” The angel told him, and a bright light appeared. Raphael was in possession of Donnie’s body again and already inside the cabin, flaring with lightening in the shape of wings, and lightbulbs shattered.

“Castiel.” The archangel acknowledged.

“Raphael.” Present Cas acknowledged.

Him and Dean walked closer.

“And I thought you were supposed to be impressive.” The older Winchester taunted. “All you do is black out the room.”

“And the Eastern Seaboard.” Raphael answered and lightening flashed outside. “It is a testament to my unending mercy that I do not smite you here and now or take your pets back to where they belong. Yourself from that time is here as well, Castiel.”

“Or maybe you’re full of crap. Maybe you’re afraid God will bring Cas back to life again and smite you and your candy-ass skirt, or just let Cas from future come back here.” He continued to taunt. “By the way, hi, I’m Dean, and those three _aren’t_ my pets by the way.”

“I know who you are. And now, thanks to him, I know where you are. However, you want to refer to them, those humans don’t belong here, and another angel will take them back, even if I do not.” The archangel said. “We will deal take care of getting the rogue angel Castiel becomes back to where he belongs as well.”

“You won’t kill Dean. You wouldn’t dare.” Present Cas warned. “I’m not a rogue angel.”

“But I will take him to Michael.” Raphael countered. “You _are_ a rogue angel and remain so, according yourself decades from now, even assisting in those humans’ attempt to change the present. Remember, I will find them and take them to Michael also.”

“Well then. Sounds terrifying. It does. But, uh, hate to tell you, I’m not going anywhere with you.” Dean said, then walking over to grab a beer out of his cooler and took a swing of the beer. “You really think they’ll go with you without a fight?”

“Surely you remember Zachariah giving you stomach cancer? Do you know what he could do to them?” The archangel asked, and the older Winchester turned around and removed the beer from his mouth.

“Yeah, that was, that was hilarious.” Dean answered, mouthing back humorously despite the intimidations. “If I put the kid Samuel in the caged ring with Zachariah, that bastard would get his ass kicked.”

“Well, he doesn’t have anything close to my imagination and strength your pet has none of.”

“Yeah? I bet you didn’t imagine one thing.” The older Winchester taunted, and Raphael approached him now.

“What?”

“We knew you were coming, you stupid son of a bitch.” Dean said lite up his lighter and dropped it, and a holy oil ignited in a circle around the archangel, who looked at present Cas with pure rage. “Don’t look at me, it was his idea.”

“Where is He?” Present Cas demanded.

“God? Didn’t you hear? He’s dead, Castiel. Dead.” Raphael answered unexpectedly.

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: Garber, Oklahoma

Timeline: August 25 – Night

**(Samuel’s POV)**

Everything was going as planned, although Samuel thought it was a waste of time to pray to future Castiel about saving Steve’s life. Although they probably knew it was a long shot and it wouldn’t work, but either way, he had been planning the torture that he’d exact on Tim and Reggie a few days prior to this. The hero Sam was waiting, hidden in the kitchen, and waiting for his cue. Dean and Rebekah were waiting outside for when Reggie would try to grab Lindsay, he was waiting by the entrance and waited at the table trying to figure out how to send a text to two people at once on his new outdated flip phone.

_How did people get by with using these? Could whoever the creator of this phone have been a sadist to force people have to use the same keyboard for calling **and** texting?_ He thought irritably, feeling like throwing the damn thing. _God, I hope they have touchscreen phones or at least one with a second keyboard for texting! I just want to text normally already._

The door chimed and somebody came in. _Show time._ He thought, hiding a smirk. “The bar’s closed, asshole.” He said, flipping the phone back to its primitive state and putting it in his jeans pocket, looking directly at a pissed off Tim.

“Where’s Sam at, kid?” He demanded the young man, who shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I think he went on a smoke break.” Samuel answered in an intentionally naïve tone. “What do you need?”

Tim was about to grab Samuel by his shirt, and the young man dodged as he saw the older man’s fists ready to take a hit at him. “Don’t play stupid, kid. Where’s Sam?” He demanded more angrily, and about to throw a punch. Samuel leaned back from the punch and grabbed Tim’s arm, and pulled him down with his foot to trip him down to the hard floor. “I said, I think he went on a smoke break.” He repeated the lie. “Why are you harassing me like this?”

_He didn’t see that coming,_ the young man thought with a smirk, and inadvertently left his guard down. Tim pushed him back and held the futuristic hunter by the collar of his black button-up against the wall by the bar. “Where’s Sam? I’m not asking again, you little bastard!”

The young man, despite being caught off guard, grabbed his other hand to block the punch, grabbed his elbow, and his leg back Tim’s knee, thus pulling the older man down. “You’re ruining my shirt!” He complained, fixing the black and gray stripped collar, “it’s _Hollister_ , for Christ’s sake! That shit isn’t cheap, you know.”

“You’re not a hunter at all, aren’t you, pretty boy? No hunter would be worried about his clothes in a fight!” Tim snarked back, grabbing him by his shirt and pushing him firmly against the wall, and the younger hunter scoffed at the insult, noticing Sam come by from around the corner. “You better tell me where Sam is, or else I’ll rip those designer jeans of yours.”

Samuel tried to break free and felt the grip on Tim’s neck tightening as the door chimed again, and Reggie came in hauling Lindsay. “Reggie, you got another pair of handcuffs?” The older hunter turned around, momentarily distracted. “Pretty boy here’s hiding Sam.”

_Goddamnit! Where’s Dean and Rebekah at?_ He thought worriedly about his brother and wife and kicked the distracted hunter in the stomach and pushed him to the floor right when Sam came out and put the older hunter in a chokehold.

“Lindsay!” The hero Sam exclaimed.

Reggie held a knife up to Lindsay’s neck. “Let him go.” He demanded.

His namesake reluctantly let go of the chokehold around Tim’s neck and looked over at the young man. “Are you okay, Samuel?” He asked in concern, who nodded, then turned back to Tim and Reggie.

“So that’s pretty boy’s real name?” Tim mocked, then looked at the time-traveler. “ _Samuel_?”

“Do as my— _he_ says and let her go.” Samuel snapped angrily, ignoring the mockery in the older hunter’s voice when he spoke the younger hunter’s name.

“Anyways, Sam,” Tim continued as if the younger hunter weren’t in the room, turning to his namesake, “Something you want to tell me? Must be important if you got pretty boy here covering your ass.”

Samuel scowled. _I hate that nickname._ He thought vengefully as he clenched his fist and fixed his shirt collar. _God—the things I want to do to him are limitless! Both him and Reggie will pay for this; the hero Sam deserves respect, not this crap!_

“What? No.” His namesake lied. “Samuel wasn’t covering for me, he just finished up work.”

“You sure about that?”

“I—I don’t know—jeez. Are you okay? Where’s Steve?” His namesake continued.

“Oh, Steve’s good, he’s, uh, his guts are lying roadside outside the Hawley Five and Dime.”

“I’m sorry.” The hero Sam authentically apologized.

“Sorry don’t cut it, Sam.”

“What do you want me to say?” His namesake demanded.

“The truth.”

The hero Sam didn’t say anything, and Samuel couldn’t sit by, and let Tim berate his namesake like this. Nobody in this time-period had seen how dangerous he could be, and what better time than now to prove it? He wasn’t a prissy law school graduate; he was a hunter first and foremost. The younger-looking hunter had to defend his namesake, even if meant having the drink the demon blood instead of him and exposing the truth he didn’t want anybody else in the past to know of.

It didn’t mean if his father was wrong about his evil, it was still right to defend family no matter what, because that’s what Winchester’s did.

Samuel slowly put his hand down toward his left jeans pocket, where his .44 Bulldog revolver was as Tim broke the silence. “Okay, fine. Let me give you some of my own, then.” He snapped at the hero Sam. “We go into town, we catch ourselves a demon, we get jumped by ten more. Steve bought it.”

“I’m sorry.” His namesake truly apologized once more.

“Saying it twice don’t make it so, Sam. You see, this demon, he, uh, he told us things.” The older hunter continued. “Crazy things, things about you, Sam.”

_Seriously, the demons around here didn’t sense my presence, did they? Shouldn’t I be considered a bit of a threat to at least deal with later?_ The time-traveler thought irritably, keeping hand in his pocket, gripped around the revolver’s handle. _Can’t the hero Sam do something already? They’re distracted for fuck’s sake! Wait…Maybe I can get a shot at Reggie’s head without Lindsay getting hurt?_

“Demons lie.” The hero Sam lied.

“Yeah. I’m gonna ask you one last time. The truth. _Now_.” Tim threatened, then glanced back at Lindsay and back at Samuel and his namesake. “Or you don’t want to know what’ll happen. The kid knows, doesn’t he?”

“Well, you got me.” The young man said irritably with a groan.

“What’s going on?” Lindsay cried out at the same time, looking over at the hero Sam and Samuel.

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: ?

Timeline: August 25 – Night

**(Dean’s POV)**

“But there’s no other explanation. He’s gone for good.” Raphael said.

Dean and present Cas stood in front of Raphael in the ring of ignited holy oil aflame, and he could tell that his friend was getting angry and worried. “You’re lying.” Present Cas accused him.

“Am I? Do you remember the twentieth century?” The archangel argued with intensity. “Think the twenty-first is going any better? Do you think God would have let any of that happen if He were alive?”

“Oh yeah? Well then who invented the Chinese basket trick?” Dean asked mockingly.

“Careful. That’s my Father you’re talking about, boy.”

“Yeah, who would be so proud to know His sons started the frigging apocalypse.” The older Winchester commented sarcastically.

“Who ran off and disappeared.” The archangel lamented. “Who left no instructions and a world to run.”

“Daddy ran away and disappeared. He didn’t happen to work for the post office, did He?”

“This is funny to you?” Raphael asked him, unpleasant and outrage in his demeanor toward Dean. “You’re living in a godless universe.”

“And? What, you and the other kids just decided to throw an apocalypse while He was gone?”

“We’re tired. We just want it to be over.” The archangel said with weariness in his voice, tired of life as it seemed to be going for the angels. “We just want...paradise.”

“So, what, God dies and makes you the boss and you decide you can do whatever you want?”

Dean was frustrated with what how life on Earth was determined by angels who thought the Apocalypse was a way to get things back to how _they_ wanted it to be, with no regard for humanity. “So, what, God dies and makes you the boss and you decide you can do whatever you want?” He demanded.

“Yes. And whatever we want, we get.” Raphael menacingly and the windows burst in when a lightning struck down. Rain and heavy wind blow in the abandoned building.

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: Garber, Oklahoma

Timeline: August 25 – Night

**(Samuel’s POV)**

Samuel knew Tim would pull out that vial of demon blood and he gulped as he saw it in the older hunter’s hand and glanced at his namesake staring at it. He was _trying_ not to stare at it and hoping that he didn’t give himself away. He hoped Dean and Rebekah were okay, and all of this in here would end soon with no harm to his namesake, or the civilian.

“Let’s just take it easy, okay?” The hero Sam insisted. “Put the knife down.”

Tim nodded to Reggie, who put it down on one of the tables, keeping his hold on Lindsay.

“What the demons said, it’s all true.”

The time-traveler looked at his namesake worriedly, then coming up with a plan on the spot. Whether it was smart or not was one thing, but the fact that he could protect his namesake overshadowed whether it was a good idea or not. He couldn’t allow himself to hesitate, for his namesake’s safety mattered more than his own.

“Go on.” Tim said.

“Why? You gonna hate me any less?” The hero Sam elaborated, expressing pain Samuel himself had been experiencing since re-releasing Lucifer in the future. “Am I gonna hate myself any less? What do you want?”

_Wait, the moment’s coming._ The time-traveler told himself, clenching his fists in impatience.

“I want to hear you say it.”

“I did it. I started the apocalypse.” His namesake admitted with pain in his voice, and it felt strange for the younger-looking hunter to be able to emphasize with somebody else on this strong of a level. Was he more better off than his namesake in this case? The hero Sam didn’t have a twin, or any other sibling who also had demon blood.

The closest he ever had to that before was with Emma, but she didn’t re-release Lucifer.

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: ?

Timeline: August 25 – Night

**(Dean’s POV)**

The rain and heavy wind continued to blow into the abandoned house after the lightning strike.

“If God is dead, why have I returned? Who brought me back?” Present Cas demanded.

“Did it ever occur to you that maybe Lucifer raised you?” Raphael suggested.

“No.” Present Cas said vehemently.

“Think about it. He needs all the rebellious angels he can find. You know it adds up.”

“Let’s go.” Present Cas said as he and Dean started to head out of the abandoned house. “Castiel,” the archangel warned, and the two turned toward him, “I'm warning you. Do not leave me here. I will find you.”

“Maybe one day. But today, you’re my little bitch.” The angel told Raphael, then left the house and Dean followed behind, then pausing toward the archangel. “What he said.”

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: Garber, Oklahoma

Timeline: August 25 – Night

**(Samuel’s POV)**

Samuel knew that Tim would pull out the vial of demon blood and he tried to shield himself from looking at it, but he gulped when he first saw it. _This is for my namesake, not for me, not ever again._ He told himself, trying to stay calm. _The hero Sam will have to forgive me for this._

He noticed his namesake staring at it, and asked with fear in his voice, “What’s that?”

“What do you think it is?” Tim mocked him. “It’s go juice, Sammy boy.”

“Get that away from me.” The hero Sam told the older hunter.

The time-traveler could have sworn that he felt the fear radiating off his namesake, or maybe it was his fear instead. _I’m sorry, just wait another minute. I’ll take care of this and Dean and Rebekah won’t have to wait long._ He thought to himself, wishing he could speak those words out loud _. I’ll prove that I’m capable of **not** being a soulless bastard for once._

“Away from you? No. This _is_ for you.” The older hunter said seriously, walking toward the both, in the hero Sam’s direction, and the young man mentally prepared for his move. “Hell, if that demon wasn’t right as rain. Down the hatch, son.”

“You’re insane,” his namesake snapped at the roughed-up hunter.

_Wait for it…_ Samuel thought, wishing he could intervene right now.

“Here’s what’s gonna happen. You’re gonna drink this, Hulk out, and you’re gonna waste every one of the demon scum that killed my best friend.” Tim told him hatefully with grief on his face, then nodded at Lindsay, who Reggie had just handcuffed to the table. “Or she dies.”

“You wouldn’t do that.” The hero Sam said in disbelief as Samuel stood beside him, ready to pull his revolver any time now. “It’s funny how watching your best friend die changes that.” Tim said as Reggie walked away from Lindsay, and right beside him.

_Maybe I don’t have to drink it after all! I could just kill Reggie, and the hero Sam would be able to get Lindsay to safety._ Samuel thought with a smirk as he took out his revolver and shut an unsuspecting Reggie in head, horrifying and enraging Tim, who dropped the test tube of demon blood on the floor, shattering. _Dean and Rebekah **better** be okay._

“You—”

“How come it took you such a long time to take me seriously?” He teased with a harsh laugh.

His namesake, nor Lindsay saw this coming, and that’s what the young man reveled in.

It was almost like the first time he exerted his dominance in nearly killing a hunter when him and Emma were attacked earlier in 2056 while he was still at Stanford, a remorseless act of brutal violence they didn’t see coming. The hero Sam would have to forgive him for this, there’s no reason why he wouldn’t for saving his life.

Samuel tried to get out of the way, but as Tim held him against the wall. “I’ll kill you, too, you bastard.” He threatened and the young man smirked. “You knew Sam started the Apocalypse, didn’t you, and you’ll still protect him! Get that goddamn smug look off your face!”

The time-traveler looked at him in the eye. “I wouldn’t have done it if you hadn’t tried to harm my namesake, who doesn’t deserve to be treated like a monster!” He snapped angrily at the hunter, scowling. “It’s hunters like _you_ who deserve to be treated like monsters, because it’s what you are!”

“What are you, a demon? Is that why you’re protecting him?” He asked viciously, one arm holding the young man against the wall and the other reaching to choke him, and Samuel realized that his namesake left his sight. “What’s this ‘namesake’ bullshit?”

Suddenly, he heard a gun go off and a bullet from behind hit Tim’s back whilst trying to break free, and the older hunter’s body feel in front of him. It was the hero Sam, his namesake saved his life, and rushed to his side.

“Samuel, are you okay?” He asked, helping the young man up, who took a deep breath and nodded. “Go find your brother and Rebekah. I’ll take care of Lindsay.” His namesake continued, and Samuel looked down at his revolver in his left hand, putting it back in his pocket as the excitement left his mind, and hurrying out of the entrance.

_I…I can’t believe it! I never killed a hunter before. Should I feel guilty, even though I saved the hero Sam’s life? A normal person would feel bad for murdering in self-defense, right?_ Samuel asked himself as he took in the shock of his actions, unlocking the locked front door of the bar and headed toward the back entrance. _Dad would be okay with it since…killing Reggie was a last resort, and he told me to that killing a human threat should **always** be last resort. Does it make right, though? It feels right, and so fucking good._

That .44 Bulldog was never used to kill a person before, and the silver bullets loaded in it were used only on monsters, or sometimes he needed to load it up with witch killing bullets. It felt almost unnatural to kill person, but it was exciting and different, too. His father gave it to him with the intention to kill monsters, _not_ people, though.

_Dad, would you approve of this? You gave me this .44 and I killed a person with it. Were my actions right, though? It feels right, and so fucking good._ He pleaded in his mind, second guessing himself, and unlocked the back entrance. Dean and Rebekah, who fortunately looked uninjured, walked through it. “They didn’t get to you guys, did they?” He asked quickly.

“No, by the time we spotted Reggie, he’d grabbed Lindsay already, and they locked us out.” Dean answered with visible concern on his face and a little bit more emotion in his stoic voice than usual. “Are you okay, Sammy? Is the hero Sam and Lindsay okay?”

Rebekah reached her hand up to her husband’s shoulders, with a look of worry on her face.

Samuel nodded. “I’ll give you the oversimplified version. I killed Reggie and the hero Sam killed Tim when he was trying to strangle me to death.” He explained stoically, as somebody attempting to strangle him to death was nothing new or unexpected. “She’s okay, just probably needs institutionalized somewhere for a few weeks.”

“At least that’s better than death.” She said, letting out a sigh of relief. “Where’s your namesake at, Sam?”

Her husband let out of an irritable groan. “Shit. We need to help him dispose of the bodies.” He recalled in annoyance under his breath as dealing with dead bodies were to be expected on the job. “Come on.” He said, going inside the back entrance and he heard their footsteps behind them.

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: Road – Impala 

Timeline: August 25 – Night

**(Dean’s POV)**

After that whole ordeal with Raphael, Dean was driving, and present Cas was in the passenger’s seat. He had just received a call from D, who informed him of everything that occurred that night, while they were getting the hell out of Oklahoma before the cops could catch them.

Seriously, was it habit of Samuel’s to put himself in dangerous positions like this? Looking back, the boy put himself in the forefront of danger back in Colorado too, like he intentionally would get hurt instead of someone else.

He let himself get kidnapped and tortured by a brainwashed Jo and Rufus, and now, he let himself take Sam’s place to allow his brother avoid harm. Either way, Sam was safe and nobody else was hurt, except for the two murdered asshole hunters who tried to get his younger brother back on demon blood.

“You okay?” Dean asked, glancing over at present Cas.

The angel didn’t say anything.

“Look, I’ll be the first to tell you that this little crusade of yours is nuts,” the older Winchester said, “but I do know a little something about missing fathers.”

“What do you mean?” Present Cas asked.

“I mean there were times when I was looking for my dad when all logic said that he was dead,” Dean elaborated, “but I knew in my heart he was still alive. Who cares what some ninja turtle says, Cas, what do you believe?”

“I believe he’s out there.” His friend replied.

“Good. Then go find him.”

“What about you?” Present Cas asked.

“What about me? I don’t know.” The older Winchester said. “Honestly, I’m good. I can’t believe I'm saying that, but I am, I’m really good.”

“Even without your brother if the time-travelers never shown up?”

“Especially without my brother right now. I mean, I spent so much time worrying about the son of a bitch. I mean, I’ve had more fun with you in the past twenty-four hours than I’ve had with Sam in years,” Dean answered then smiled faintly, “and you’re not that much fun. It’s funny, you know, I’ve been so chained to my family, but now that I’m alone, hell, I’m happy.”

He looked over and the passenger’s seat was empty, and his smile faltered.

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: Road – Stolen car

Timeline: August 25 – Night

**(Sam’s POV)**

Earlier, Sam helped the time-travelers dispose of the bodies and got his backpack from the motel room. He carjacked a moderately worn out vehicle from the motel parking lot and dropped Lindsay off somewhere discreet. He felt terrible for the psychological harm he’d caused her, only by showing his in Garber. He felt like just a profound apology and disappearing wasn’t enough, but there was nothing he could do.

He suggested to keep the cops off their tail to just stay in one car, and they agreed.

After driving a couple of hours, Rebekah took over driving for him whilst Samuel and D slept in the backstreet, looking about to fall on each other if the car drover over a speed bump. Sam fell asleep in the passenger’s seat to a classic rock station playing in the background.

_“Hey, baby.”_

_It was…Jess’s voice. He woke up and looked around. She sat in the driver’s seat of the stolen car parked on the side of the road, and he stared at her._

_“I missed you,” she said, and he continued to stare._

_“Jessica. I’m dreaming.” He said in disbelief._

_“Or you’re not. What’s the difference? I’m here.”_

_“I miss you so much,” he said longingly with pain in his voice._

_“I know.” Jess said, reaching out for his hand. “I miss you too. What are you doing, Sam?”_

_“What do you mean?” He asked, not sure what she meant by that._

_“Tried running away and ended up getting saved by a time-traveler. Haven’t we been down this road before?”_

_“No. It was different.” He told her._

_“Really?”_

_“Last time I wanted to be normal. This time I know I’m a freak.” He elaborated._

_“Which is all a big ball of semantics. You know that.”_

_“No.” He disagreed in denial._

_“Even at Stanford you knew. You knew there was something dark inside of you. Deep down, maybe, but you knew. Maybe that’s what got me killed.” Jess said. “Your cousin’s girlfriend lived, and you’re jealous of him, aren’t you?”_

_Sam looked up, startled. “No.” He disagreed once more in denial._

_“I was dead from the moment we said hello. You wish you were there to save me in time.”_

_“No.” He disagreed thrice in denial._

_“Don’t you get it? You tried running from yourself, and you can’t. Why try in the first place?”_

_“Why are you here, Jess?” He asked her._

_“Would you believe I’m actually trying to protect you? Those time-travelers can’t, and you know it.”_

_“From what?” He asked her further._

_“You. The past caught up to you like it always does. You know what happened.”_

_Sam looked down._

_“People die. Baby, the people closest to you die.”_

_“Don’t worry because I won’t make that mistake again.”_

_“Same song, different verse. Things are never gonna change with you. Ever.” She said as she leaned in closer to face Sam and rubbed her thumb over his chin, and he kissed her neck. “So. This is your life now? Think you can just live forever with your head buried in the sand, like you tried to?”_

_“I love you, Jess. God knows how much I miss you, too.” Sam told her. “But you’re wrong. People can change. There is reason for hope.”_

_“No, Sam. There isn’t.” Jess said, putting her hand on Sam’s shoulder and morphing into Lucifer’s new vessel when he looked away._

_“How can you be so sure?” The younger Winchester asked._

_“Because you freed me.”_

_Sam turned and saw Lucifer where he expected Jess to be, and tried to unlock the door to no avail._

_“That’s right. You know who I am.” The Devil said._

_“Lucifer.” He spoke._

_“You are a hard one to find, Sam. Harder than most humans.” Lucifer asked persuasively. “I don’t suppose you’d tell me where you are?”_

_“What do you want with me?” The younger Winchester demanded._

_“Thanks to you, I walk the earth. I want to give you a gift. I want to give you everything.”_

_“I don’t want anything from you.” Sam said vehemently._

_“I’m so sorry, Sam, I, I really am, but Nick here is just an improvisation.” Lucifer said, and the younger Winchester assumed he was lying. “Plan B. He can barely contain me without spontaneously combusting.”_

_“What are you talking about?” He demanded._

_“Why do you think you were in that chapel? You’re the one, Sam.” The fallen angel explained. “You’re my vessel. My true vessel.”_

_“No.” Sam argued._

_“Yes.”_

_“No. That’ll never happen.” He snapped._

_“I’m sorry, but it will. I will find you. And when I do, you will let me in. I’m sure of it.”_

_“You need my consent.” Sam pointed out._

_Lucifer crossed his arms over his chest. “Of course. I’m an angel.” He said._

_“I will kill myself before letting you in.”_

_“I’ll just bring you back.” The fallen angel said, then sighed. “Sam, my heart breaks for you. The weight on your shoulders, what you’ve done, what you still have to do. It is more than anyone could bear.” He continued. “If there was some other way...but there isn’t. I will never lie to you. I will never trick you, but you will say yes to me.”_

_“You’re wrong.”_

_“I’m not. I think I know you better than you know yourself.” Lucifer said persuasively. “What if you were me and I were you? Wouldn’t you want out of the Cage, any means necessary and take back what’s yours?”_

_“Shut up.” Sam said, refusing to consider that scenario, looking away. “Why me?”_

_“Because it had to be you, Sam. It always had to be you.” He said. “You know, the time-traveler, what’s his name? Samuel? He could be a good Plan C for me until you say yes. It’s not a bad idea at all.”_

_Sam looked up, startled by Lucifer’s idea to use the time-traveler in order for Sam to say yes._

_The Devil was gone._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you guys think?


	10. Interlude - Stolen Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma and Danny arrive in Germany and improvise a plan on how to deal with Lucifer. With Sam, Dean, Rebekah in the past, Emma and Danny are at a standstill and try to figure out why the present hasn’t changed at all. Old wounds from their childhood are reopened when investigating for leads on Lucifer doesn’t go as planned. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note: 
> 
> As always, thank you for reading, subscribing, and bookmarking this story. I’m sorry that this chapter took so long to write, given the additional research I did in making sure nothing was inaccurate about Germany and that I had writer’s block for a while. I’m just an American who loves Persona 5 and Criminal Minds (aside from Supernatural), which are my main inspirations right now. Now, I’m back, and with less wrist pain as well.
> 
> This chapter is inspired by CM 5x9 mostly in the last eleven minutes of the episode. Spoilers for the episode at the bottom of the chapter, for anybody who hasn’t (and isn’t) going to see it, that explain where the inspiration came from. I am fucking in love with CM, by the way, not that it’s relevant here. I’m referring to the CM glossary site for terms like ‘blitz attack.’
> 
> There are hints of abuse, brief arguments of gun control, and one mention of school shootings in the characters’ dialogue in the second cut scene in this chapter.
> 
> \-----------------------
> 
> As for the original statement:
> 
> I have done a lot of research for this story and have been hesitant to post it, for I want to make sure I wrote my German main characters accurately. If I made any mistakes with either portrayal, please let me know and I will fix it. Any constructive criticism is welcome and please let me know what you guys think. I sincerely hope that the portrayals are accurate and are not offensive in any shape or form. If there are any grammar errors, please let me know and I can fix them.
> 
> \-----------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> Updated authors note (12\11\20):
> 
> I updated the timeline, and yeah, I forgot to add the CM spoilers for 5x9 at the end.
> 
> Trigger warning: There's mention of torture in the second scene as well.

Year: 2056

Location: Berlin, Germany

Timeline for this chapter: A few hours after Sam, Dean, and Rebekah left

Interlude 

Stolen Time

**(Emma’s POV)**

_ Day one _

By the time Emma and Danny Winchester boarded their flight and arrived at their grandparents home a few hours later in Berlin, Germany, they were informed of Sam, Dean, and Rebekah’s trip into past. Emma and Danny found the story how the three of them ran into Castiel, who escaped from 2020, and went into the past with him to change the truth _almost_ unbelievable when they called their grandparents’ home to let them know of their arrival.

Only sixteen years ago, the four of the siblings were ten, eight, and six. They were so innocent, compared to now, just learning how to hunt the supernatural. There wasn’t anything like that Apocalypse, or getting rid of Lucifer, back then. It was just about finding the yellow-eyed demon Azazel, and saving Hanna, nothing like how things were now.

They hadn’t seen their grandparents, Dan and Angelika Winchester, at all in ten years when their father moved the family to America to hunt down the son of a bitch. It felt strange stepping their feet into a country they didn’t think they would see again, and they felt like foreigners in the country they never got to know that well.

It was like a couple of years ago when Emma, and her sesquizygotic twin brother, Sam, opened the Devil’s Gate in Wyoming. It was either let their father lose his life to demons, or save his life and let the gate open, so the latter choice was the better of two evils. As a result, their father was extremely angry with them for letting Azazel get away with the Colt, who would have killed him if it weren’t for the twins’ intervention.

He’d never been so angry with Sam and Emma before, and had a few more choice words than he normally would with his semi-identical twins. A week late apology and an explanation of how worried they made him didn’t take away the stinging of being told that they ruined his chance of getting their stepmother back.

Even though their father would take back his harsh words, a lot of other hunters _always_ had harsher and more hurtful things to say about the “demon spawn” Winchester twins. Speaking of other hunters, God knew how many hunters would be coming after them this time around, and the four Winchester siblings, especially the twins, thought they had it bad before.

Now, they all four of them, including Rebekah now, had to look over their shoulders in public and fend off murder attempts by fellow hunters twice, or maybe thrice as much, now. That’s why their father told them to go back to Germany, and brainstorm there. He was angry with them, but their safety was far more important than giving them his choice words.

The two Winchesters finally arrived in the quiet suburb by cab, and the first thing they did was set their duffle-bags down and begin to take their shoes off upon being greeted by their grandparents. They found out more of the intricate details of what actually happened with Sam, Dean, and Rebekah, and were worn out.

“It’s been so damn long since I’ve seen you kids.” Their grandfather said with relief in his voice, breaking the tension as the four of them sat in the living room, in a slightly German accent. “I wish it wouldn’t be like this, though.”

Emma and Danny sighed almost in sync.

When they left Germany years ago, they left behind any normalcy that remained after Hanna was taken by Azazel there, and had to leave it for dead. Revisiting the home that they practically grew up in was a remainder of their childhood innocence that died there when stepmother was taken from them.

“Yeah. I used to tell myself that it wouldn’t get this bad, and maybe Dad would return to his senses.” Emma said sadly with her voice cracking and Danny put his hand on her shoulder, glancing at the family pictures on the living room mantle, with and without Hanna, and some with Fiona on it. “We’ll be okay, Emma. We’ll get through it like we always do.” He said with the little positivity and confidence he had. “We’ll save Mom, get rid of Lucifer, and we can be a screwed-up family again.”

The older Winchester sibling snorted. “Screwed up?” She said. “You mean, _homicidal and mentally unstable_ , right?”

Dan and Angelika could remember a time when Klaus only wanted to give his four kids a normal life in Germany, and never bring them into the hunting life. They thought Klaus had moved on after Fiona died, but what happened to Hanna drove him down a similar road that his uncle went down.

Thirteen years had gone by and they couldn’t stop Klaus from training his four kids into soldiers. It couldn’t be denied in an any way that Klaus was also a victim in this tragedy of a situation, given that one wife was killed in front of him and his second wife was kidnapped and presumably still being held hostage, although Sam tortured and killed Azazel sometime last year.

There were things he did that his grief couldn’t excuse, and now, that resulted in all four of those young adults having been accustomed to the hunting life since childhood. They were _used_ to other hunters coming after them and attempting to kill them, and they were looked down upon by many Americans (especially by law enforcement there) as criminals.

In short, the Winchester family was vehemently hated in America because of the murders and other crimes the original controversial hunting legends Sam and Dean Winchester were accused of. Their two older grandsons had it the worst being named after them, although they considered it an honor and Sam practically advertised their family’s ancestry.

“What are you going to do about Lucifer?” Angelika asked them with concern.

Danny shook his head. “We were gonna talk to Sam, Dean, and Rebekah about it when we’d get here, so I assume we’re improvising.” He answered, glancing over at his older sister who groaned. “Yeah, it’s not like we have another option.” She agreed.

“Emma, you won’t say yes to Lucifer, right?” Dan asked his granddaughter.

She looked at him decisively. “No, unless it’s the only option left. If it means that the world is safe and Sammy doesn’t have to say yes, then I’ll consent.” She said determinedly. “Sam probably said the same thing as me, didn’t he?”

The looks on their grandparents’ faces confirmed that he did.

“He’s not saying yes to Lucifer. I’ll make sure of it.” She said stubbornly. “Unlike me, Sammy has a chance to have a life without hunting. He can still take his bar exam and make his namesake proud.”

Danny scoffed. “Why do you and Sam both have death wishes?” He asked.

She rolled her eyes. “I prefer the term martyr, Danny.” She argued back.

“Martyr, my ass! Neither of you should have to die to fix the world.”

Emma snorted. “It’s what the hero Sam would do.” She defended.

“You and Sammy have a fucked-up way of showing you care about each other.” Danny snapped, causing his older sister to glare at him and opened her mouth to argue back. “Both of you, stop it. Arguing over it will solve nothing.” Angelika said firmly, interrupting her granddaughter. “You’ve just arrived here. Why don’t you kids just go lay down and relax?”

Danny stood up from his seat and stretched. “Where are we sleeping, Oma?” He asked.

She smiled as she stood up, along with her husband, and gestured for the two Winchester siblings. “I need to go check something,” Dan said vaguely, then walking over to by the front door, and grabbed the older Winchester sibling’s bag, and brought it over.

Emma looked visibly nervous as he looked over at her.

“You better not have demon blood in here, Emma.” He said firmly as he set the dark purple duffle bag on the floor and leaned down to unzip it. She visibly tensed as he pulled out a blue tumbler cup and opened it up. “Oh shit.” Danny muttered as he walked over to grab his dark blue duffle-bag, then coming right back over quickly. Their grandfather opened it up and gave her a stern look, showing her the blood in the hard-plastic cup.

“I’m throwing this out. I told you before you even got on that goddamn plane to _not_ bring demon blood here.” He exclaimed, looking at his granddaughter with a mix of sternness and concern. “If you start withdrawing from the blood, there’s beer in refrigerator! You got it?”

Emma sighed. _Alcohol doesn’t help the hallucinations,_ she thought tensely, running her hand through her hair.

“Yes, sir.” She answered instinctively, leaning down, and zipping the bag back up.

“Your opa and I know what the withdraws can do to you, and we don’t want you to let it get bad. If there’s anything you can do here to avoid them, let us know if we can help.” Angelika said with firmness, heavily with concern as her granddaughter picked up her bag. “We already know you’ll go out and get more blood.”

Emma looked at them with distress. “You have no problem if I drink outside of the house?” She asked them tentatively, glancing at Danny, who was looking at his older sister with concern. “Of course, where no one would see me at a black market, assuming there’s one here.”

 _What’s she thinking?! Is she trying to get herself put back in Steven’s panic room?_ Danny thought in frustration, glancing his sister looks to be more careful. _Oma and Opa will report it back to Dad, and God knows how he’ll react this time!_

Their grandfather looked at her with his concern overlapping his worn-out frustration toward his granddaughter’s unusual addiction. At least Sam was able to kick his blood addiction after a year of nearly turning himself into a serial killer on quite a few occasions whilst Emma had been an addict herself for a few years now.

“Yeah,” Dan answered with a frustrated, yet worn-out sigh, “just keep it out of the house.”

Danny looked at his grandfather. “Are you guys gonna tell Dad about it?” He asked tentatively.

“No, we’re not. Your opa and I can imagine how badly he’s overreacted with you kids.” Angelika answered promptly with sympathy in her voice. “We’re aware of the physical and emotional abuse allegations a few American social workers suggested.”

“Yeah, he takes after your Uncle John.” Dan answered bitterly with a scoff, then began to head toward the kitchen, and glanced at his granddaughter. “I’m dumping this blood in the sink, Emma. Don’t bring anymore here, or it’s getting dumped, too.”

The two Winchester siblings were tensed as their grandmother shown them the bedrooms, they would be staying in. Emma would be in her old bedroom (that she shared with Sam), the last room on the left in the hallway, and Danny’s old bedroom was right across from hers. Her younger brother yawned as he took his bag into his old room and shut the door behind him.

“Emma,” her grandmother said gravely in concern as Danny shut his bedroom door whilst she was about to close her, and turned around, “ _how_ badly did your father react to the blood?”

Emma put her hand on her forehead, the memories of the incident coming back to plague her.

“Do you believe the allegations, Oma?” She asked, feeling cornered with panic, as her eyes widened.

“No, but I do believe he’s made mistakes.” Angelika admitted feeling a heavy sweep of dread come over her, based on Emma’s petrified reaction. “I know he’s done things he wishes he would never have done, and there’s things he wants to make up for, right?”

Emma sighed. “Yeah, and things he hasn’t even acknowledged.” She answered sourly with weariness sinking in her tone, remembering how much her father had put her and her siblings through, although he kept all four of them safe. “I don’t want to talk about Dad anymore, Oma.” Her grandmother had a look of understanding on her face. “Okay. I’m here if you need to talk, Emma.” She said considerately. “He won’t hear anything about the blood, and far as he’ll know, you’re here to come up with a plan.”

The only Winchester daughter nodded and shut the door behind her.

* * *

Year: 2056

Location: Berlin, Germany

Timeline: October 19

**(Danny’s POV)**

_ Day two _

Danny felt weird waking up in his childhood bedroom, although he didn’t remember it much, given that he never visited his grandparents’ home after his mother was taken. He had scrambled memories of a colorful rug on the floor and chunks of memory involving him playing on the colorful rug with Sam and Dean before she was taken.

The gentle blue paint remained on the walls, as if his mother were never taken in the first place. That colorful rug had been gone a long time, he imagined, and that beige rug in its place over the soft brown carpet complimented the innocent paint on the wall. It was if the walls were taunting him as it seemed to remind him that the peaceful times were gone, and never coming back. Sure, Danny had peaceful moments after his mother was taken, but her absence was the elephant in the room nobody wanted to address.

The youngest Winchester tried not to think about the bits and pieces of the childhood he could remember _before_ everything disintegrated because compared to how darkening his life became ten years _after_ the fact. His siblings, and especially his father, were broken in vastly different ways, and coped with stress in various unhealthy ways.

Would Sam still have become an vengeful and creative sadist with an enthusiasm for torture?

Would Emma still have become a withdrawn and introverted demon blood addict?

Would Dean still have become unhealthily attached to Sam and desperate for his approval?

Would Danny himself still have become a heavy drinker and an elegant party crasher?

He forced himself to grab his duffle-bag and leave the room. Him and his older sister hadn’t come up with a plan for Lucifer yet as they just finished breakfast. They figured that at least a few demons followed them there.

Danny and Emma were hopefully not going to be staying in their old rooms, not that they didn’t like spending time with their grandparents, though. Those rooms were filled with memories that neither Winchester sibling wanted to remember. He was sure that Emma grabbed her bag from her old room, too, so neither of them had to go back in.

Life back then was far simpler when the world wasn’t in danger of ending, or like when Lucifer wasn’t back on Earth. Aside from being arrested and charged with various crimes, problems were usually of the supernatural nature, like this current problem was. Comparing to Lucifer, finding the spell to summon Azazel or figuring out how to trap a reaper was nothing.

The biggest problems in the past had been things like taking big risks on hunts that ended one of them up being arrested or ending up in the hospital, amongst other occasional crimes. Like the time when Danny was arrested for crashing that wedding in North Carolina a few years ago, or that DUI he was charged with in Texas last year. He walked into the dining room and sat down in the chair beside his older sister.

“We should probably start with figuring out if there’s any demons who followed us,” he said, turning toward Emma.

“Yeah, and then Lucifer.” She inputted.

“Oh shit, we left our guns back in the States! Why does Germany have such strict gun laws? Doesn’t our government care about letting people protect themselves?” Danny complained with a groan, feeling naked without his pistol in his black and gray camouflage jeans pocket, and he was sure Emma felt the same way. “How are we supposed to do anything?”

Emma nodded in agreement, then realized something. “Wait, Sam, Dean, and Rebekah had their guns when they left.” She said with frustration, turning to her twin. “How’d they get theirs past airport security? Maybe they gave their guns to Castiel and he dropped them off here.”

The youngest Winchester scoffed. “Of course, they did.” He said, moaning. “Why did we have to miss the earlier flight?”

His older sister rolled her eyes. “You’re starting to sound as bitchy as Sammy.” She remarked dryly, then spoke more matter-of-factly. “In defense of Germany, why do you think America has so many mass shootings and there’s so little of them here?”

He glared at his sister for a moment. “How do we protect ourselves then?” He asked.

She snorted. “I have powers, remember?” She said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Well, I don’t! What am I supposed to do defend myself?”

Emma groaned. “Are you trying to make up for Sam’s absence by bitching right now, Danny?” She asked him dryly, glaring at him with an irritable look on her face. “You’re giving me a massive headache like the real Sam, too.”

Danny glared at her more harshly. “Seriously, Emma, how do I defend myself?” He demanded.

“I don’t know; ask Oma and Opa.”

“You’re kidding.” He commented irritably.

“If you replace the ‘D’ in your name with an ‘S,’ it spells Sammy.”

Their grandfather came in the room. “You both are giving me a headache and your oma’s sleeping, don’t forget.” He told them firmly, then his tone lightened. “You can deal with your culture shock without waking her or giving me a headache, can’t you?”

“Yes, sir.” Both siblings said instinctively.

“I’m your grandfather, _not_ your drill sergeant. Don’t mistake me for your dad.” He told them more firmly. “He shouldn’t _ever_ had conditioned you like this and took away what childhood you had left to be raised like soldiers.”

Danny sighed. He’d known that his grandfather and father never got along that well and wondered why he even named after Dan in the first place. Was it only because their grandfather helped raise his three older siblings and for no other reason? Maybe even ‘homicidal’ and ‘mentally unstable’ was an understatement to describe their family. He was certain that those terms didn’t even come close to how Sam took extreme pleasure in torturing demons without any shame, and he knew for a fact that his oldest brother was a sadist.

“Well, anyways, keep quiet.” He finished, leaving the room in more intense awkward silence.

“Emma,” Danny said, turning toward his older sister, “they’re in the past, right?”

“Yeah,” she answered with confusion on her face, “it’s like nothing’s changed here.”

“Maybe somehow they get pulled back here and whatever they’ve done in the past is undone.” He theorized, after thinking for a couple of minutes. “Maybe Michael’s intervening, and he’s putting everything back into place.”

“But that doesn’t explain why they’re not here, Danny.” Emma said in more confusion, shoving her ebony black floppy bangs identical to Sam’s away from her face and the blue eyes she also shared with him shown worry for them. “Maybe we could try praying to him, or maybe Castiel is on call, too?”

“Yeah, but Sam and Dean aren’t here.” He pointed out.

Emma shook her head. “Why would Michael or Castiel only answer Sam and Dean’s prayers?” She asked him, dumbfounded. “He’s not the hero Dean, so Castiel would be less inclined to answer, and just because Michael’s answered Sammy the last few times doesn’t mean—”

The youngest Winchester moaned. “Michael only ever answers to Sam, and you’d think he’d at least pay attention to Dean since Michael brought him back to life.” He pointed out. “Does he like Sam better than the rest of us, or what?”

She huffed. “Goddamnit. We’re screwed.” She said.

Danny gave her a matter-of-fact look. “You have powers, Emma, and I don’t even have a useful weapon.” He complained. “We can’t risk letting people think we’re criminals _here_ , too, so what can I do?”

The older Winchester sibling glanced a look of annoyance at him. “I don’t know, maybe quit bitching and try praying to Michael or Castiel?” She snarked. “That’s what I’m gonna try doing outside and get my blood.”

He scoffed. “Alone? What if you’re ambushed?” He asked her incredulously.

“Do you want to use your fists and fight off any demons, and risk getting hurt?” She replied more seriously, though the attitude in her tone remained. “I’m just gonna go find a black market and see if they answer. You know I’ve survived two blitz attack attempts, right?”

Danny sighed, and more serious as well. “You don’t know if you need a bus, tram, U-Bahn, or an S-Bahn for one of those here, and neither of us can afford to use too much public transportation. Fuck, doesn’t public transportation still cost €2.80? We still have to save for a flight back and pay for food on the way back, too!” He pointed out once more. “How do you know if it’ll be another blitz attack? It could be _another_ shooting instead!”

His older sister sighed irritably. “What about American dollars, Danny? Can’t we turn those in for euros?” She suggested, then reaching into her dark blue jeans, and pulling out her wallet to count the dollars in it. “If my math’s right, then $20 will get me €17 euros, right? I’ll be fine, alright?”

Danny leaned back in the dining room chair, visibly struggling to unwind. “If you have enough, can you get me an _Eierkuchen_?” He asked her with levity in his tone. “If they don’t have that, a _butterkuchen_ , _currywurst_ and _bock_ , or maybe _Kartoffelpuffers_ with apple sauce?”

Emma got up and put her wallet away. “Sure.” She said with a faint smile, then heading out toward the door, stepping over the salt line, and he let out a sigh of relief. “I’ll keep my phone on, and keep you posted if I see anything.”

He decided to just watch some TV in the living room to pass the time.

* * *

Year: 2056

Location: Berlin, Germany

Timeline for this chapter: October 19

**(Emma’s POV)**

_ Day two _

Emma felt like a foreigner when she purchased a metro bus ticket, and boarded one to get off at a local _Foreign Exchange Bureau_ store when she arrived in the city, not far from the suburb her grandparents conveniently lived in Berlin. She’d never road on a metro bus by herself before, given that she was only ten at the time. She worried that she’d become as paranoid as her father from those two blitz murder attempts, and like Danny said, it could be second attempt to shoot her to death. Then again, wasn’t her whole immediate family paranoid as their father now? It would make sense.

The only Winchester daughter, like her three brothers and sister-in-law, had every reason to fear for her life. Although she wasn’t as outraged as her mostly youngest brother (raised in mostly in America) about Germany’s strict firearm laws, Emma wished she could’ve had a gun on her person, just in case.

It was bad that she and her four siblings (counting Rebekah) didn’t feel safe going out anywhere without a gun, or any sort of weapon. Over the past few years, all four of them had been ambushed when they were alone by other hunters, as their father was right about teaching them to not trust hunters outside of the family.

The heroes Sam and Dean had hunter contacts and they were ambushed by hunters who attempted to kill them before at different points in their lives, so if the stories were accurate, then not all hunters outside of the family were bad. Steven Archer, the four Winchester siblings’ godfather, wasn’t a blood relative and he’d been considered family since he played a large part in raising their father and his twin brother, Blaise, when their grandparents were still hunters.

Now, wasn’t the time to try to make any hunter contacts, though.

Emma doubted that they would make any that would be able to tolerate Sam as her _egotistical_ and _mentally unstable twin_ who undoubtedly had a gift for pissing people off. Not many people had the patience to tolerate Sam in the long-term in the first place, which is why these Winchester’s couldn’t have nice things like hunter contacts and allies outside of the family.

Sometimes it felt like a curse to have the same ebony black hair and blue eyes as him, alongside the youthful looks, when other people (who didn’t like him) would recognize her as his twin. His skin was pale and hers was somewhat fairer while he was 6’4” in height, she was 5’4”, among other distinguishable physical traits. Sometimes was grateful for the physical similarities they had, though, when her resemblance to him had a benefit in different circumstances.

In her opinion, Sam always managed to ruin about everything he touched, often without even trying, not that she’d tell him that. Emma knew that her twin really wasn’t a bad person and that he meant well, but sometimes, Sam was so damn selfish. He cared more about his hair and clothes than civilian lives, and he hid his vanity very well with a sensitive and kind act.

Of course, not everything was his fault, given that many parts of his soul wasn’t functional.

Emma couldn’t fault her twin for the times he honestly did try to understand why her, their two brothers, and Rebekah would get angry at him for his insensitivity, hence why telling him how she felt about how he’d ruined things for her all the time. Sometimes he didn’t even realize it, given that he had a rather pretentious personality, and when he did control himself, he normally did it well if he cared to put in the effort to.

When he did honestly feel bad, which was only sometimes, he’d do everything to make up for it and then do inadvertently something else insensitive or selfish; the cycle had been tirelessly rinsed and repeated since the four of the Winchester siblings were kids back in Germany. What made Emma feel terrible about the situation was that Sam was often frustrated with his limited understanding of more complex emotions toward people he didn’t know and his inability to relate to other people, even family members at times.

Sometimes it was so easy to hate him, and then sometimes it was even easier to _not_ hate him when he was down about that.

She sighed after she got off the bus and decided to look up where to find the closest black market, running her hand through her shoulder length hair. Sometimes she’d hated Sam so damn much and wish he’d go on a vacation far away from her for a month or two, but then again, she’d miss him just as much.

Emma tried not to think about where Sam, Dean, and Rebekah were, as she sat down on the bench not far from the metro bus stop and ignore her twin senses. The only Winchester daughter didn’t believe in any of that otherworldly twin connection stuff unless you count the visions her and Sam shared when they were teenagers. She couldn’t shake the idea that Sam may had just had a run-in with a hunter from the past, but it was reasonable to think that she’d been so worried about him that it was probably just nothing. Her twin didn’t often show fear and other vulnerable emotions in front of other people, but when he did, it was visible.

Fear was radiating off Sam, if her dysfunctional love-hate twin senses were reliable, and Emma tended to disregard those occasional instances of being a placebo effect from something else on her mind. Her and Sam didn’t have a strong bond, unless their intense love-hate for each other counted as such, and neither did they think like the other often.

Emma could care less about what brand of clothing she wore, and nor did she pretend to look like she was more important than she actually was. Honestly, she thought that getting in Stanford and having a legitimate income in California made him more self-absorbed, while she wasn’t vain at all. Aside from that, they didn’t have similar thoughts when it came down to morality.

Emma didn’t believe torture was moral, even on a demon who deserved it, and Sam took pleasure in inflicting torture on a non-human monster who deserved it. She didn’t like how he screwed with people’s heads and drew out their fears, all for creating a daunting reputation that he believed kept their family safe, whilst she believed that it did the exact opposite of what he wanted to do.

Anyhow, as many issues as Emma had with her twin, they lived under the hero Sam’s teachings (although they interpreted a few of the teachings differently), and lived by the family business motto, _saving people and hunting things_. It was ingrained in them and it left no room for interpretation, unlike the hero Sam’s teachings that allowed her twin leeway to venture into darker territory.

Emma’s head hurt as she found a German chatroom for a black market, one of which that sold substances that monsters who didn’t want to kill to survive on and hoped it would be useful. Her family had asked her why monsters would sell to her, and she didn’t reveal _how_ she managed to get it. If she told them, even Sam would consider it immoral, and he wasn’t wrong on that.

When she’d been away for a few years after turning eighteen, she’d allied herself with a demon, but not just any demon. Ruby, of all demons! Somehow back to life and putting herself on the right side of the war this time around, Ruby lent her a hand in acquiring demon blood and kept Emma in the loop for what was going in the Apocalypse.

The only Winchester daughter knew that torturing demons and drinking blood from them were to different things, and her twin unknowingly had indirectly drunk blood from Ruby a few times when a market was unavailable before he quit last year. Though she wouldn’t admit it out loud, she’d quit and get clean like her twin brother, if she saw another way to protect her family.

She wouldn’t admit that she’d developed feelings for the demon in the past few years either.

The heroes Sam and Dean would frown on it, and especially her father, who taught her and her siblings to _never_ trust a demon. Not even her twin pushed the boundaries on that issue because in the history of their ancestors proved it repeatedly. The only Winchester daughter had been keeping this unholy alliance a secret for eight years now, and she’d known it would come out one way or another.

“Shit.” Emma muttered, unable to find one near her, and she couldn’t believe what she had to do _again_. She exited out of her _Safari_ tab on her iPhone and scrolled to her contact simply called “Messenger,” and clicked call on the person’s name.

“Hey, Emma. Let me guess, your grandparents found your supply?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t you try to sneak it in where they could easily find it?”

“Seriously, you’re doing that right _now_ , Ruby? You know I need it…and I haven’t seen you in a few days.”

“Better reason not to bring demon blood back home, right?”

“Anyways, I’m in Berlin, around—”

“I can find you, just have some damn patience. You remind me of Sam. I’m not talking about your twin.”

“I…I’ll see you soon.”

Emma blushed and she hung up the phone and put it back in her pocket. She knew it was wrong to drink blood from the demon who betrayed her twin brother’s namesake, and it was even more wrong that she developed feelings for that demon. Ruby would mock her for it, if she ever said anything about it, and her family would be disgusted with her for it.

* * *

Year: 2056

Location: Berlin, Germany

Timeline: October 19

**(Danny’s POV)**

_ Day two _

Danny figured that it would take his older sister a while to get her demon blood fix in and to get them something to snack on that evening. He’d been sitting on the sofa and nursing a beer that was beside him on the wooden sidewall table, flipping through the German channels that he’d forgotten about until now for something interesting.

He didn’t know a lot of demon blood addictions, but he knew that irritability, hallucinations, and death were possible with different human drug addictions. These hallucinations weren’t like the ones from the psychedelic drugs Sam took in recreation. The oldest Winchester brother told Danny that he’d rather have a bad trip from one of his psychedelics any day than experience one of the hallucinations from the blood withdraws ever again.

They weren’t many stories of what the hero Sam went through in his withdraws, and only a small handful of eyewitness descriptions survived throughout the years. According to his older twin siblings, the surviving descriptions were an understatement to what it actually felt like. Although Danny knew why they had to hold off until she went and got her fix, it didn’t make the situation any less frustrating.

At least Emma wasn’t as irritable and irrational as Sam was when he was still a blood junkie, and she didn’t get into homicidal mood swings, like he did. Emma could get clean from demon blood if he could. Either way, complaining about what-ifs and the injustices that their family had endured would only waste time. It wasn’t like he didn’t appreciate having a break and unwind for a little while, but the urgency of the situation made Danny too anxious to enjoy his break from the family business.

Danny picked up the bottle of _Berliner Weisse_ and deciding on _Welt_ , a news channel when she came in and broke the salt line and fixed it with the canister on the sidewall table beside the door. “Did you see anything?” He said, setting the beer back on the sidewall table as she slipped her shoes off on the mat, and sat down across from him on the sofa. “When I was about to get us both an _Eierkuchen_ , I saw a demon watching me,” she said with exhaustion, “and I got the hell out of there.”

The youngest Winchester sibling scoffed. “They’ll never leave us alone,” he said.

She huffed in irritation. “What the hell are we supposed to do, Danny?” She asked him, running her hand through her black hair. “Outside of my powers, we don’t have any weapons and we’ll get arrested if we get caught fighting!”

Both were feeling hopeless and that they wasted their money flying back to Germany, or not questioning their father’s order. Sam was usually the one who questioned his orders, even under serious circumstances, but he was understandably too much in shock to question it.

“Yeah. We’re fucked, Emma.” He said loudly with frustration in his voice as their grandparents came through the door with a couple of shopping bags from a local supermarket, and he turned to them. “Hey, Oma, Opa?” He asked them as Dan and Angelika sat the bags down for a moment and slipped their shoes off. “Did you see any demons while you were out?”

“No,” their grandmother said in concern as their grandfather sighed, “what’s going on?”

“Yeah, when I was out, I saw one watching me.” Emma told them.

Angelika sighed as she picked up one of the bags and Dan fixed the salt line.

“Well, at least they can’t get in here,” he said reluctantly, putting the salt cannister back on the sidewall table, and picking up the other bag, “not that I don’t enjoy you kids being here, it’ll be best if you deal with the demons back in America.”

The two Winchester siblings had already been talking about it, and neither of them wanted to leave Germany either. “Yeah, we were already about to suggest it to you, Opa.” Danny said sadly. “We just got here, too.” Emma added, equally as unhappy. Angelika nodded in agreement. “We’re not going anywhere, kids.” She reassured them with a remorseful look on her face. “Stay for the rest of the day since you’ve drank, and you should be safe to leave tomorrow. After you save the world, you’ll come and visit, right?”

The two Winchester siblings nodded.

Danny picked up his beer and took a large gulp of it in defeat and Emma stood up.

“I’m getting a beer,” she muttered, heading toward the kitchen in her anger.

 _Why does all this shit have to be our responsibility?! What did we do, besides being born, to deserve all this?!_ He thought in frustration as he watched his grandparents head the kitchen with the shopping bags and empty his second beer today. _We’re just on the sidelines, not like Sam and Dean. Apparently, Michael’s against the Apocalypse._

Emma came out with an extra beer.

“You look like you need it, Danny.” she said, handing the bottle of beer to him, and he took it.

“Thanks…Here’s to stolen time,” He said, extending his bottle and she followed, clinking the glass bottles, and both took a drink of their beers. “Time we’ll never get again,” Emma remarked, sighing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I probably spent more time researching for this part of the story than I should have, but I wanted to be extra safe and I hope I didn't write anything offensive or stereotypical. That and having writer's block recently, so thankfully, I already have ideas for my futuristic characters in the next chapter!
> 
> What do you guys think of Ruby being back?
> 
> Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> \-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> Updated authors note (12\11\20):
> 
> In CM 5x9, one of the main characters Aaron Hotchner's wife was killed by a serial killer, George Foyet, who they were pursuing. As you guys can probably tell, much of the characters and aspects of this fic has been inspired by CM. Plot details that will come out in later chapters are, just like this, inspired by CM.
> 
> This fic is such a disorganized mess, ugh.


	11. Chapter 9 - Hanna (Pt. 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean knows that he shouldn’t part with Sam, given what they’ve been told by future Castiel and the time-travelers so far, but he knows that Heaven and Hell will use their bond against them. He still can’t entirely trust Sam, and he knows that the time-travelers will interfere in every way possible to keep him from parting with Sam.
> 
> He should’ve known that the boy named after his brother would have a trick up his sleeve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note: 
> 
> As always, thank you for reading, subscribing, and bookmarking this story. I apologize for not focusing enough on Dean’s perspective, regarding Sam trusting Ruby and being manipulated into releasing Lucifer. I admit that I accidentally focused too much on Sam’s perspective regarding this, so this first part (and the next) should remedy that mistake on my part. 
> 
> This will be only broken into two parts and the title of the chapter is inspired by “Helena” by My Chemical Romance. Some of this part and most of the next is also inspired by “Ghost of You,” also by MCR. I have more of a plan about how I want the story to come along and chapters should be coming out quicker from now on, I hope.  
> As for why I’ve decided to diverge from following the episode plots as closely as possible, that’s because the chapters of when I did that, proof reading that format felt uninspired. I’m not gonna diverge too far from the episodes, of course. 
> 
> \--------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> As for the original statement:
> 
> I have done a lot of research for this story and have been hesitant to post it, for I want to make sure I wrote my German main characters accurately. If I made any mistakes with either portrayal, please let me know and I will fix it. Any constructive criticism is welcome and please let me know what you guys think. I sincerely hope that the portrayals are accurate and are not offensive in any shape or form. If there are any grammar errors, please let me know and I can fix them.
> 
> \------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> Updated authors note (12\16\20): 
> 
> It's probably not such a good idea to hop around fixing details instead of just doing it chapter by chapter, but I just remembered that this chapter has something that needs fixed. The added dialogue isn't beta read, I wrote out of spur of the moment just now. Chapter 10 is still being worked on and ideas are still being developed for it.
> 
> Tw: brief recap of season 4 (mainly the addiction and victim-blaming aspect).

Year: 2009

Location: Betsy’s Diner – ? – Night

Timeline: N\A

Chapter Nine

Hanna (Pt. One)

**(Sam’s POV)**

“Dean, I _need_ a smartphone. I don’t have any service and I’m bored.”

Sam woke up in the passenger’s seat of the car and glanced over at Rebekah driving, who seemed rather drowsy. He looked toward the voice of Samuel in the back, clearly irritable and tired.

“Sammy, if you don’t shut up in five minutes, I’m gonna drug you to sleep.”

The younger Winchester rolled his eyes at the childish argument and had been about to speak up when Rebekah looked back at the two time-travelers. “I think I saw a rest stop ahead, guys.” She said, glancing at Sam, realize he was awake. “I need caffeine and someone to buy Ambien from.”

“Ambien? Seriously?” Sam asked in disbelief, hoping they actually weren’t serious about drugging their brother, and if they were, it was messed up that they would attempt that. “Is there a motel nearby, Rebekah?”

She nodded. “There should be one up ahead,” she said.

“Yeah, are you and Dean serious gonna drug me?” Samuel demanded incredulously. “I’m not sedating myself on the road just for you both to have quiet, and I won’t be used as your practice torture dummy either. Can’t you guys just wait until we find a demon to interrogate?”

Sam looked at the three of them with disbelief, they were odd people, even odder than him and Dean. He lay his head back on the chair, deciding to wait until the two boys in the back calmed down to tell them. “Stop making it look like we’re the assholes, Sam! Jesus Christ, you’re driving me insane.” D yelled at his brother, and the younger Winchester instinctively looked back at the mention of his name. “Can you blame us with how irritating you’re being right now?!”

Samuel scoffed and glared at his brother harshly. “Why do you automatically assume that? I’m not out to frame either of you in an unpleasant light!” He said harshly. “Why do you insist that I’m making you look bad while you’re actively making me _look_ bad? Are you—”

Rebekah interrupted him, scowling in irritation. “Stop being such a fucking diva, Sam.” She snapped, turning the car toward the left, where she saw a truck rest stop. Sam let out a sigh of relief at the same time as D and Rebekah, who looked more than happy to get out of the car filled with awkward silence.

“Anyone up for a late dinner?” D asked, gesturing toward the distant, flickering yellow light.

“Yeah, it looks like they’re open.” Sam answered with a yawn.

“I hope they have strong coffee.” Rebekah said, then heading toward the flickering lights.

It was too good to be true that Samuel was being quiet, and the younger Winchester turned around, seeing the boy was falling asleep. No wonder he was being quiet. “Hey, dude, we’ve found a diner.” He said, and the kid slowly sat up, and shoved his floppy bangs out of his face.

“I need a goddamn haircut,” he muttered irritably, straightening his rumpled shirt collar.

Right as she turned toward the parking lot, where a large and old neon sign stuck out. It had faded and peeling green and pink paint with flickering yellow lights all along the sign stating, “Betsy’s Diner,” and the diner was visibly on the right side. Within walking distance from it was the truck stop with the expected trucks parked on the left side beside a small Gas N Slip, and aside from truck drivers, it looked old and barren.

A few cars were parked in front of the diner, though, and the pavement was bumpy as Rebekah turned to park there. When all four of them stepped out of the car, chilly air was blowing across the destitute road stop, Samuel was leaning down by his feat and grabbing a long-sleeved black button up with pink stripes. Rebekah locked the car up whilst shivering whilst Sam and D went ahead, and the boy took off his long-sleeved black and purple stripped button and handed it to Rebekah.

For a second, Sam thought he noticed a few burn scars on the kid’s arms and track marks as Samuel became nervous, noticing his namesake seeing arms, turning around to put on the black and pink stripped shirt and buttoning it up whilst Rebekah put on the other shirt he gave him. Sam felt an immediate concern for the boy, seeing the scars and track marks, and decided not to bring it up whenever the two time-travelers came inside, given the lack of privacy as he and D walked inside the diner. He would bring it up later, though, in private.

When the younger Winchester and the time-traveler came it, a bell rang and they took notice of the worn-out green and pink paint peeling off the walls, and the ripped light brown leather seats on the booths upon walking in. It was quiet, even a few people working behind the counter were quiet, including the two other customers in there, given that drowsy atmosphere.

The coffee maker was loudly brewing, so alongside the employees moving around on the dirty white and pink stripped floor, an older-aged man sitting at the green painted bar with pink edges flipped the pages of a newspaper in his hands. The yawns were inevitable as well from a waitress refilling the older man’s coffee from behind the bar.

“I’ll be with you boys in a minute,” the young woman said, putting the coffee pot right back in place as she looked over toward the two of them. “Thanks,” Sam said as he and D headed toward a booth in the back whilst the other two came in, indicated by the chiming bell. He and the older-looking boy named after his brother sat next to each other whilst Samuel and Rebekah sat on the other side across from them. She was wearing his long-sleeved black button up shirt with purple stripes unbuttoned over her long-sleeved fuchsia pink sweater. It looked large enough to be a dress, reaching to her knees clad in loose light blue jeans.

“Thanks, Sam.” She said, looking toward husband, gesturing to the button-up.

“As good you look in linen and silk sweaters, I suggest buying cotton sweaters next time.” Samuel complimented, yet critiqued her pleasantly. “Don’t you have cashmere sweaters? I remember buying you one a few months ago.”

The younger Winchester did wish that Jessica survived the fire, but he wouldn’t wish the hunting life on her, and he wondered if Jess would have joined the family business. Her and Rebekah were vastly different people, and he doubted his deceased girlfriend would embrace the life like Rebekah did.

He shook the thought of his head and forced himself to focus on reality.

“They got torn up in hunts, and it costs too much to repair them.” Rebekah answered.

Samuel _did_ know about clothes, given that he valued his outward appearance, hence seeming to prefer the nicer things he could afford. He had to tell them about his conversation with Lucifer via dream, and as he was about to tell them, the waitress from earlier came over. She put four paper menus on the table and pulled out her notepad and pen from her hoodie pocket. “What can I get ya’ll?”

“Coffee, please.” Sam said.

“I’d like coffee with as much caffeine as possible.” Samuel said.

“Same.” D and Rebekah spoke up in unison.

“I’ll be right back with your coffee,” she said, writing down their drink orders.

After she headed toward behind the counter, Sam looked at the three time-travelers. “Lucifer talked to me in my dream and asked me to say yes.” He told them urgently, then looking at the younger-looking time-traveler remorsefully. “He said that he’s using another guy as a plan B until I say yes, and, uh, he’s considering you as a plan C, Samuel.”

The boy sighed in irritation and ran his hand through his short hair.

“Of course, he is!” He exclaimed under his breath, huffing.

“I’m sorry, man. I didn’t mean to get you involved—”

The kid interrupted his apology with a sympathetic look on his face. “Why would you be the blame?” He said with confusion and empathy in his voice. “You didn’t know when I’d be born and you had no control over Azazel’s resurrection, or his plans to groom me as your successor.”

“That’s what I mean, Samuel. Somehow if you were groomed to take my place in the future, then I didn’t say yes to Lucifer, right?” Sam reasoned with the boy, who shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably. “You paid for my mistakes! Dude, that’s not fair to you, and it’s not fair that your brother’s paying for Dean’s.”

The futuristic time-traveler brothers had puzzled expressions on their faces as the waitress came back with a tray of four coffee mugs, and with the assorted little cups of creamer. “Sorry about the wait,” she apologized with a yawn, putting the mugs and cups of creamer on the table, “the coffee makers on its last legs. What can I get ya’ll to eat, or you need a few minutes?”

She took her notepad and pen out of her pocket.

The four of them were more concerned about dealing with Lucifer and didn’t even look at their menus. “Yeah, we should be ready to order in a few minutes,” D said, and she nodded, putting her notepad and pen back in the pocket. “Take your time,” she said, heading over toward a customer who just came in and sat down at one of the bar stools.

“You’re saying you and my namesake didn’t do what Heaven or Hell wanted you to do in the end, and they used us as a second chance to make things go the way they want?” D clarified, and Sam nodded, picking up his cup of coffee and taking a sip. “Even if it were true, neither of you are to blame.” The younger Winchester composed himself and drank from his cup of coffee. It would be bad if Lucifer, or any angels (Castiel aside) and demons overheard them. His youthful older brother looked at his namesake in concern as D picked up his cup of coffee.

“Isn’t our family cursed anyways? Either way, wouldn’t this, or something _like_ this would’ve happened regardless of either you did exactly what they wanted?” He pointed out, looking at the younger Winchester with his pleading blue eyes, putting his cup down whilst his brother continued to drink from his. “If your endgame actions never take place, then how do you know we wouldn’t have been raised as hunters in a different reality? You _must_ do what’s right, regardless of what my and my family’s future might look like.”

Sam paused, not expecting the boy to have such an emotional reaction.

“Do you know we end up doing?” He asked the kid tentatively, not sure if he wanted to know.

“We can’t say,” D interrupted his brother as he was about to speak, “we’ve already intervened enough to disrupt the future, and if we tell you what happens, there’s the chance of giving you a false hope of them happening. We’ve already interfered enough.” His brother scoffed. “Dean, we should—” He tried to reason, but his brother shot him an irritated look. “I know we should, Sammy, but can’t you see how much has already changed?” He said, looking at Samuel with an urgent look. “There’s a chance we can be overheard, too!”

The boy had a look of defeat on his face, realizing that his brother was right. Sam understood where D was coming from and it made sense, yet it frustrated him that his ‘endgame actions’ to stopping Lucifer were kept between them. He put his cup down, and felt a headache coming on as he picked up his menu. The two time-travelers followed suit, looking through theirs.

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: Century Hotel – Kansas City – Night

Timeline: N\A

**(Dean’s POV)**

Dean knew that Sam and the three time-travelers were going to meet up with him at his hotel room in Kansas City. He didn’t want to team back up with Sam, though. He knew that all of those angels, demons, and everything in between would use their bond against them, and he didn’t fully trust Sam, despite exhausting himself recently to prove that he could trusted. The older Winchester remembered back in Colorado when Samuel defended his younger brother’s actions and declared him blameless for the whole thing. The boy didn’t understand at all what it was like, even though Sam was going through withdraws from demon blood at the time, to choose _Ruby_ over him.

It wasn’t like Dean expected the kid to understand, who practically worshiped Sam, and explained away why the older Winchester shouldn’t blame his brother for any of this. Yeah, he broke the first seal and tortured people in Hell, but he never chose a demon over his own brother. More than likely, the kid never experienced betrayal like that before, and it wasn’t like the boy was able to understand something like that.

It was clear right away that Samuel was afraid of him, which was why he clung to the younger Winchester like Dean would harm the boy, for inadvertently re-releasing Lucifer in the future. If the kid spoke to him, it was with hesitancy and fear, and he stayed close to Sam whenever he was in contact with Dean. The boy looked at him with fear, distrust, or both at the same time, whenever he did make eye contact with the older Winchester, like he was waiting for Dean to pull out his gun and shoot him. Well, he did threaten the boy for getting Sam alone, and put in potential danger, and accused him of being Lucifer.

God, no wonder Samuel was terrified of him.

Wait, Dean had proven that he wasn’t a threat to the boy after present and future Cas proved that Samuel was telling the truth about everything he (and the other two time-travelers) told the original Winchester brothers in the present (or past, to them). The kid was just…Weird, to say the least. He stopped in front of the hotel, where he saw a Bible salesman (or maybe a street preacher), standing outside of the hotel with a handful of pamphlets.

Two passersby ignored the man while Dean got out of the Impala, locked it up, and headed for the hotel. “Excuse me, friend, but have you taken time out to think about God’s plan for you?” The Bible salesman said, addressing the older Winchester, who stopped and looked at him. “Too friggin’ much, pal.” He said, understandably frustrated, and entered the hotel.

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: Road – Towanda, Kansas – Night

Timeline: N\A

**(Sam’s POV)**

After eating and getting back on the road and deciding to not stop at a motel for the night, when future Cas appeared to them and told them about the next event. Zachariah, that winged dick, was going to appear to Dean, and send him into the future of post-apocalyptic 2014 after abruptly deciding to part with Sam. They were currently halfway there in Towanda, Kansas, and it would another two hours until arriving in Kansas City.

Worriedly, Sam asked future Cas how he could convince Dean to not go his separate way, even if the unpleasant visit from Zachariah wasn’t a deterrent enough, and present Cas said he’d talk to Dean. If that wouldn’t work, then the younger Winchester and the three time-travelers would have to figure out a way to reason Dean out of it. He moved to the backseat, and lay his head against the headrest, and hopefully get some sleep before arriving. Rebekah moved to the passenger’s seat, and Samuel offered to drive. D was nearly asleep when they were in Towanda, and the classic rock station helped lift the mood.

They hoped future Cas would be able to reason him out of not teaming back up with Sam again.

Meanwhile in the car, D and Rebekah were asleep in the backseat of the car, and the younger Winchester himself was starting to get tired. Samuel offered to drive for awhile and he moved over to the backseat. “Are you alright? I noticed your arms have burn scars and track marks all over them.” Sam said in concern, and the boy sighed as he ran one of his free hands through his hair before putting it back on the wheel. “You don’t have to, uh, tell me if you don’t want to.” 

“I’m fine,” the boy answered tensely.

“You’re not fine, Samuel.” The younger Winchester disagreed with concern and guilt rising in his voice as he knew the boy’s body language when he wasn’t actually alright after spending a few weeks around him. “You and your brother said it’s not my fault. It’s my fault, if I did what I was supposed to, Heaven wouldn’t have used either of you.”

The younger-looking kid glanced at Sam through rear-view mirror in front of them with empathy.

“My family has said for years that I blame myself for what nobody could’ve been able to control, like my birth mother being killed or my stepmother being kidnapped, but Azazel tried to take me and my twin both times. I…think I can relate to what you’re saying.” Samuel said considerately after a couple of minutes in silence on his end, his voice cracking hurt and anger. “You and I are just a couple of pawns in a sick game, and we’ve both been manipulated to take blame for what’s not our faults. Rebekah’s life was used as a gamble _twice_ to get me back into hunting and for re-releasing Lucifer.”

The boy, based on knowing him for a few weeks now, came off to Sam as somebody who was hiding _a lot_ of pain and guilt, and in his successful attempt to relate with the younger Winchester once more, they were more alike than Sam thought. It made him think back to when the younger-looking kid admitted to how unclean his father made him and his twin feel, like they couldn’t be trusted to use their own judgments, it made him sick at how poorly this kid and his twin were treated because of demon blood they had no choice in being fed.

Although Sam didn’t know about his until he was twenty-two, he always knew there was something unclean about him, albeit not knowing what it was. The boy and his twin, though, knew since they were young what it was, and it sounded like Klaus Winchester was more honest with his kids than how John was with him and Dean, keeping everything on a need-to-know basis.

This additional admission from Samuel proved that the arrogant persona he wore in public was merely just a mask to hide all his pain, guilt, and self-consciousness. He felt bad for asking about the burn scars and track marks the boy appeared self-conscious about, yet he wanted Samuel to know that he didn’t have to suffer alone.

Whether the younger-looking boy was struggling with relapsing on demon blood, a common human addiction, or not, he probably didn’t want Sam to know about all the drugs he was buying a week or so ago, if that was the case. The younger Winchester wasn’t going to push him for details, Samuel would tell him whenever he was ready, if he needed to talk.

Sam felt alone for a while since before being manipulated into starting the Apocalypse, given that his perspectives for drinking demon blood and trying to do good with it was villainized, he was shamed, locked in Bobby’s panic room _alone_ , all of that stuck with him and it still hurt to this moment. His perspective wasn’t listened to and he was treated like an unhinged monster, and from what he’d seen of the boy, he suspected that the boy had been treated similarly.

If he could make a difference right in this moment, it’d be that he could help Samuel through the internal torment and shame the younger-looking kid was feeling, and it must’ve taken a lot for him to confide in Sam. The boy, from what he knew of, never struck him as the type of to talk about his feelings, and trusted Sam with them.

Whether the kid knew it or not, he was helping Sam feel less alone in this cruel world.

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: Century Hotel – Kansas City – Night

Timeline: N\A

**(Dean’s POV)**

“We’re talking about the Colt, right? I mean, as in _the_ Colt?”

Dean was on the phone with present Cas.

“We are.” The angel answered.

“Well, that doesn’t make any sense.” The older Winchester asked, not quite sure what his angelic crush—no, _friend_ —meant. “I mean, why would the demons keep a gun around that, uh, kills demons?”

Then it sounded as if a car passed present Cas by.

“What? What? Did—I didn’t—I didn’t get that.”

Dean laughed. “You know, it’s kind of funny. Talking to a messenger of God on a cellphone.” He said humorously. “It’s, you know, like watching a Hell’s Angel ride a moped.”

“This isn’t funny, Dean. The voice says I’m almost out of minutes.”

“Okay, all right. I’m—I’m telling you, Cas, the mooks have melted down the gun by now.”

“Well, I hear differently.” The angel said. “And if it’s true and if you are still set on the insane task of killing the devil, this is how we do it.”

“Okay. Where do we start?”

“Where are you now?”

“Kansas City.” Dean said, then leaning across the bed to grab his room key off the bedside table. “Century Hotel, room 113.”

“I’ll be there immediately.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. No, no, come on, man.” The older Winchester said, trying to help present Cas understand that he needed sleep. “I just drove like sixteen hours straight, okay? I’m human. And there’s stuff I got to do.”

“What stuff?”

“Eat, for example. In this case, sleep. I just need like four hours once in a while, okay?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, so, you can pop in tomorrow morning.”

“Yes. I’ll just—”

Dean hung up.

Now, he could finally get some sleep and put his phone down on the bedside table, but when he looked back up, future Cas was there. “Damnit, I need sleep, Cas!” He yelled at the futuristic version of his friend, who looked apologetic with a stressed look on his face.

“Dean, there’s something I must discuss with you. It’s about hunting with Sam again.” The futuristic angel said with urgency in his voice. “He and the time-travelers will be at the hotel soon. I know you’re concerned Heaven and Hell will use you both against each other and you want space from Sam.”

The older Winchester gave him an exasperated look. “You think?”

Future Cas gave him a pointed look in return. “I’m serious, Dean. If you don’t agree to hunt with Sam again tonight, Zachariah will transport you to the alternate post-Apocalypse world in 2014.” He said with far more urgency and concern, and it shown on his face. “In that world, you regret not saying yes to Michael and your future self will urge you to say yes to him to prevent that future. You don’t need to say yes to Michael for a better future.”

Dean let out an irritated sighed. “If I tell Sammy no, then Zachariah’s forcing me the future they want me to see.” He asked, and the angel nodded. “So, if I don’t get killed there, no one here gets hurt and I get back safe, then I don’t have to worry about them getting to my brother, right?”

“Dean, your brother is Lucifer’s perfect vessel, and Lucifer’s not above using Samuel as a back-up. You _need_ to stay with Sam.” His friend urged with more worry, seeing Dean put his feet up on the bed, and begin to cover himself up. “I’ll keep you both safe, you don’t need to w—”

“Goodnight, Cas!” 

Dean put the comforter over his head, and Cas left the room with more concern than he came in with.

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: Century Hotel – Kansas City – Night

Timeline: N\A

**(Sam’s POV)**

A couple of hours later, the four of them arrived at the Century Hotel in Kansas City. Sam booked one room for himself, and offered D the other bed in his room, in case Samuel and Rebekah wanted privacy, who accepted the offer, and wasn’t in the mood to sleep in a room that smelled like a cannabis den.

Not that D had anything against marijuana; he just didn’t like the smell of it.

It was surprisingly easy to forget that the boy and Rebekah were a married couple, given neither of them wore wedding bands, nor acted like one would expect a married couple world. They were more like siblings, so it made sense that they posed as siblings in public. Either way, they had to wait for future Cas to come back and inform them of what Dean would do. Reluctantly, the couple next door had to put off smoking their joints until they received word from Cas, and they met in Sam’s hotel room next to theirs.

Samuel and Rebekah both lay sitting up on the right bed, close to the door, back against the bed mantle whilst Sam sat on the edge on the left side of the other mattress and D sat on the edge of the right side. She lay her head on her husband’s shoulder and begun to fall asleep on him. They’d just sat down and got comfortable whilst waiting for the futuristic angel to arrive fifteen minutes ago. “Let’s see if we made the news,” D said, reaching for the remote on the bedside table, and turning it on, and the small flatscreen TV was set on a local news channel.

“Earlier tonight, two men who haven’t been identified at this time were found dead in Garber, Oklahoma, buried in a ditch. The local police believe these deaths are homicides, both were shot and have defensive wounds.” The newscaster said, and the screen shown sketches of what the men would have likely looked like while living. “If anybody knows who these men are or may have seen anybody suspicious, please contact your local law enforcement or the FBI tip line.”

Samuel let out an audible groan. “Fuck!” He muttered under his breath, then shaking Rebekah’s shoulder, and waking her. “Sam, what?” She asked him tiredly, then glancing at the TV. “What…Are those…?”

The younger Winchester and D didn’t look too surprised, but the worry was there. “Sammy, did you kill them?” His brother asked him, agape with concern, who had a rather bashful look on his face, and it looked unnatural, knowing the boy’s personality. It was an odd reaction to being asked if they murdered two people, although the boy only killed one of them.

“No, I only one killed of them. My namesake the killed the other one.” He answered, glancing over at Sam, as if to ask him to justify his actions. “I killed Reggie to provoke Tim into being distracted enough to drop the beaker of…blood, and my namesake killed Tim when he had me against the wall.”

Rebekah slapped Samuel in the back of the head in response with overwhelming concern and frustration all over her face before the younger Winchester could respond. “Seriously, Rebekah?! What have my siblings been teaching you?!” He yelled at her irritably, rubbing the back of his neck. “That actually hurt.” His voice started to sound more like a whine.

Was he seriously _pouting_?

She scoffed. “You could’ve got yourself killed, and no, your siblings didn’t teach me to do that. Do you want to be arrested for murder in the past?” She said with her voice cracking with maelstrom. “Hell, they could try to deport you back to Germany! In case you forgot, Sam, we’re not supposed exist right now.”

Sam _still_ didn’t even get a chance to even speak yet.

D shook his head in agreement. “Yeah, but not just you, Sammy. All three of us need to be more careful.” He said with concern and sapience in his voice, glancing over at the other two time-travelers. “None of us can afford to get any excessive attention right now.”

Sam looked at the time-travelers and he agreed with what the calmer and more level-headed of the three futuristic Winchesters had to say. “There’s a chance that somebody might’ve seen us, and they could’ve reported it already,” he pointed out the obvious, “all of us need to lie low for a while.”

Samuel sighed in irritation. “I can persevere without a reputation,” he muttered miserably.

Future Cas popped into the room and the angel looked visibly distressed, and four Winchesters in the room assumed the worst. “Dean wouldn’t agree after I told him, and he knows you’re all here.” He told them with a deep frown. “He said to not bother him.”

Sam scoffed. “Like hell I’m doing that.” He said stubbornly. “Which room is he in?”

What made Dean think it was okay to put himself in danger like this? If none of them knew about this, then he would be thrown into the post-apocalyptic 2014 without warning! Why was he should be damn careless about his own life and insistent about saving Sam’s, like his own life didn’t matter? It _did_ matter!

“He’s in room 113.” Future Cas said, and Sam stood up.

He was going over and talk some reason into Dean when the angel grabbed the younger Winchester’s shoulder, to stop him. “Let go of me,” he snapped at Cas, who gave Sam a look of concern, shoving the angels hand off him.

“Sam, I need you to listen to me. Your brother needs time alone.” Future Cas said urgency with more than concern on his face, especially in his remorseful blue eyes. “We can still keep him safe; I just need you to give me more time.”

“Wait, then what?! Risk letting him get taken by Zachariah?!”

The angel sighed. “Sam—”

The younger Winchester stormed past future Cas, and out of the hotel room, slamming the door behind him.

* * *

Year: 2009

Location: Century Hotel – Kansas City – Night

Timeline: N\A

**(Dean’s POV)**

Dean was in bed and he knew that his brother and the time-travelers wouldn’t let him be, just for a little while. Of course, it was because that winged dick Zachariah posed a threat, but right now, all he wanted was a few hours of sleep.

He heard pounding on the door, and the knocking persisted.

“DEAN!”

It was Sam. Who else would it be at quarter past four?

He reluctantly pulled himself out of bed and answered the door to find his irate younger brother.

“Sam, it’s quarter past four.” Dean frustratingly reminded his brother, who rolled his eyes and gave him a bitch face, coming into the room. He shut the door after Sam came in, who was more than upset with him. “What are you—”

“Dean, how can you not care about yourself?” He demanded furiously. “Did Cas tell you what’s going on, or are you just giving up?”

Dean shot his brother a frustrated look, getting and heading toward the refrigerator. “So, you’re his vessel, huh? Lucifer’s wearing you to the prom, or he’ll get Samuel as a plan C?” He said, masking his emotions with nonchalance, as he got a beer out of the refrigerator. “At least you don’t get a field trip into post-Apocalypse 2014 with Zachariah.”

“Can you take what’ll happen to you seriously?” Sam argued with more concern and ambition in his voice. “Can’t you see that you can avoid it? We’ll be able to stop them better if we’re not apart!”

“Just when you thought you were out, they pull you back in, huh, Sammy?” He said, opening the beer, and taking a sip. “So, that’s it? That’s your response?” His brother argued. “Don’t you care about _anything_ I just said?”

“What are you looking for?” Dean questioned his brother. “You think I’m just giving up?”

“I don't know. A—a little panic? Maybe?” Sam attempted to reason with him taken aback by this response. “Or fighting against the altered reality Zachariah wants to take you, too? They just want you to see things their way!”

“I guess I'm a little numb to the earth-shattering revelations at this point.”

“What are we gonna do about it?” He questioned in return.

“What do you want to do about it?”

“I want back in, for starters.” The younger Winchester told him.

“Sam—”

“I mean it. I am sick of being a puppet to these sons of bitches.” He said determinedly. “I’m gonna hunt him down, Dean.”

“Oh, so, we’re back to revenge, then, are we? Yeah, ‘cause that worked out so well last time.”

“Not revenge.” Sam said with more determination. “Redemption.”

“So, what, you’re just gonna walk back in and we’re gonna be the dynamic duo again?”

“Look, Dean, I can do this. I can.” The younger Winchester said. “I’m gonna prove it to you.”

“Look, Sam—it doesn’t matter—whatever we do. I mean, it turns out that you and me, we’re the, uh, the fire and the oil of the Armageddon.” Dean said sadly with emotion in his voice. “You know, on that basis alone, we should just pick a hemisphere. Stay away from each other for good.”

“Dean, it does not have to be like this. We can fight it.” Sam begged him.

“Yeah, you’re right. We can. But not together. We’re not stronger when we’re together, Sam. I think we’re weaker. Because whatever we have between us—love, family, whatever it is—they are always gonna use it against us.” He said tearfully. “And you know that. Yeah, we’re better off apart. We got a better chance of dodging Lucifer and Michael and this whole damn thing, if we just go our own ways.”

“Dean, don’t do this.”

“Bye, Sam.” The older Winchester gestured to the hotel room door.

Before he could protest at this, and reason with his brother, Zachariah appeared in the room with holding a struggle Samuel’s arm. “You would leave without saying goodbye to your favorite pet, Dean? I sent the other two pets of yours back already.” The angel mocked him as the boy hopelessly tried to break Zachariah’s grip on his arm and glanced at the displeased time-traveler. “He’s a feisty little abomination, isn’t he?”

Samuel scowled and said nothing, glaring at Zachariah.

“You want me, right? Let the kid go!” Dean snapped at the angel.

“Send them back.” Sam demanded.

“This has _nothing_ to do with them! You boys won’t remember them anyways.” Zachariah said, quite angry, as he glared at the kid, and tightened his grip on the struggling time-traveler’s arm before opening a portal. “In you go, Samuel.” He said as he began to throw the boy in and the Winchester brothers rushed, taking out their guns, but Samuel grabbed Dean’s free arm and pulled him in, too!

 _Damnit, help me, Cas!_ Dean prayed desperately as he fell into the portal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope none of the characters were OOC in any way and I apologize for the long wait for this chapter!
> 
> \-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> Updated authors note (12\16\20): 
> 
> How do you guys like the chapter? I hope it's better since I fixed it up.

**Author's Note:**

> German words:
> 
> Oma=Grandma  
> Opa= Grandpa  
> Vati= Dad  
> Gott= God
> 
> I hope the online translator and my research is correct on this.


End file.
